Bleached
by Sabere Commander
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki was taken from Karakura Town the night Rukia Kuchik was assigned to protect it by a strange monster and never seen again. Less than two years later hollows begin exhibiting strange habits and a spike in Vasto Lorde and Arrancar sightings also occurs. There are no such things as coincidence. Especially not in a world ruled by those with power.
1. Ichigo Kurosaki

**Bleached**  
by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 1  
"Ichigo Kurosaki"

 _Karakura Town_

A normal day slowly passed as the residents of Karakura Town settled in for the night. While it was called Karakura Town, the term town was innacurate as it had evolved into a bustling city. Like all cities, it had its fair share of crime. One such act took the life of a young girl, the family placed a vase at her death spot to remember her. While these things happen all over the world, it just so happens that on this paticular day a student of Karakura Town High happened to be walking near the site when three teenagers knocked over the vase.

The student wore a white dress shirt, grey pants, and a black tie. He carried a grey satchel case over his shoulder and was about five feet and eight inches tall. He had brown eyes and, possibly his most distinguishing feature, crayon orange hair. His name was Ichigo Kurosaki. He has two sisters, a father, and his family owns the clinic not too far away from their current position. He was sixteen years old and in the top five percent of the school in academic grades. It would also happen that this young man could see spirits of the dead.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" He shouted at the three teenagers before him.

"Um, passing by. Why?" The closest answered. Ichigo assumed he was the leader before kicking him in the face. His victim fell back, unconscious, as the carrot top began to scold the other two.

"Do you see what that is?!" He shouted again. With the sun in the backdrop, shadows covered his face creating a menacing image.

"It's a vase!" The two teenagers answered in terror. Another kick sent one to the ground like the one before.

"Do you know why that vase is there?!"

"A-A girl apparently died there!" The final stammered. The violent teen seemed even more terrifying to him now after knocking both of his friends unconscious with a single kick each. Like his friends, he met the same fate. One strong kick to the face; although, this time he didn't get knocked out.

"So why the hell didn't you apologize?!" The orange haired high school student placed his open hand in the air with the palm facing down. It would just so happen that as he was talking, the other two had reawakened to the sight of him doing so. They simply stared at the open space he was gesturing to, stupified. "Answer me!" The terror came back in full force for the three. The group quickly got on the knees, put their hands together and apologized before turning and running away.

"We're sorry!" The voices continued echoing from down the street.

As the sound of the terror filled cries faded away, the orange haired boy picked up the vase and set it at the base of a streetlamp. When he stood from his crouched position, a girl had appeared next to him. She appeared to be a foriegner with her pale white skin and saphire blue eyes; although, this could be because she was really dead. She had brown hair and a pink and white stripped shirt. She had blue jean shorts and red sneakers with white laces. After noticing her attire, if one paid attention, one would notice a small chain comeing out the center of the shirt. Almost too small to notice; however, Ichigo Kurosaki had seen many ghosts before, all of them had a similar chain, so none of this was shocking to him.

"Thank you for picking up my vase." She looked up at his tall stature.

"No problem, you just make sure you pass on to the other side okay?" Ichigo shuffled her hair before he began to walk away. The girl had been there for a little longer than a week and Ichigo had been trying to coax her into passing on. Like many before her, most refused to listen and eventually disappeared. Ichigo never did discover if they passed on or left to some place elsewhere.

At the pace Ichigo walked home, he managed to make it back just as the street lamps turned on. His home was, like the boy, somewhat of an oddity. It had two floors, shaped like the letter L, yellow with a green roof, a parking lot, a gate to lead to the back and a sliding glass door for the clinic part of home. Lucky for Ichigo though, no one was there beside his family. The boy walked through the side gate and around the house before entering through the side door. He casually made his way inside, around the bend, though a door, and into a hallway. He briefly debated whether he should go straight to his room or head to the recreational room (Living room.) where his family would be. The ginger nearly chose the former, but his stomach alerted him to some basic needs.

Setting his satchel on the dresser in front of him, he made his way to the main area before quickly ducking down. A man flew over his head in a position most would assume to be the infamous flying kick technique. As the man landed, Ichigo stood up and delivered a high kick to his face before shouting at the man. "What the hell is your problem you damn psychopath!" He had black hair, was wearing a laboratory coat, tan pants and was face down on the floor. The man's only response was a grunt prompting Ichigo to sigh in frustration before grumbling to himself. "What kind of psychopath attacks his own son everytime he enters the house." His sulking was interrupted by the voice of a girl coming from his left.

"Big brother!" She had light brown hair and fair skin with dark brown eyes. She wore an open hot pink hoodie with an orange and yellow stripped shirt beneath. She also wore a yellow skirt to match. Her name was Yuzu Kurosaki, Ichigo's sister, and she was eleven years old.

She quickly ran over and hugged her older brother causing him to chuckle. "Yuzu, good to see you." She released him with a smile on her face.

"You don't have to worry about cooking anything, I'll being doing all the work tonight." She smiled, proud of herself. She was, by far, the best cooker in the family and she considered this another oppertunity to sharpen her skills.

"Is that so? Glad to hear it. I don't think I could've bared dad's cooking any longer." Her returned the smile to her, ignoring the man shouting in protest in the background. "Well since, you have dinner covered, would you mind telling me when Karin comes home from soccer practice? I'm gonna work on my homework."

"Sure thing." Yuzu was always the postive one of their family. There were very few things she couldn't turn into a positive.

"Alright then, see you in a bit." Ichigo offered a wave of the hand as he made his way into the hall and up to the second story of the house.

"Man, he's sure getting stronger." The man stood from the ground, rubbing his cheek.

"Well, you have been doing this for a while now. He was bound to get tired of it dad." Yuzu commented while blinking at his childish complaint.

"Yeah, well I'll keep doing it! No son of mine is going to slack off and become a bum!" He raised his fist into the air in truimph leaving Yuzu to sweadrop at the antics of her father. He certainly was a strange nut if she ever saw one.

 **xxxXXX With Ichigo XXXxxx**

Ichigo walked into his room, closed the door, walked over to his bed, threw the book bag on the floor, before plopping down and relaxing. His room had a window directly beside his bed and one across from his bed. Before the far window was a desk with a T.V. on it, hooked up to a VCR, with various different books cluttering the rest of the space. Beside his bed to the left was another desk, this one with a chair, and a pin board above it. After that was his closet with several horizontal shelves in it. Directly beside his bed is a small trash bin too. Ichigo laid his head back and thought about the days happenings.

It started off slow, him evading his moron of a father, getting dressed and heading towards the school bus after evading another one of his father's crazed attacks. After that, he quickly meet his friends Chad, Keigo, and Mizuiro. On their way to class, they talked about random things before Keigo started acting like a dog in heat when they entered and he got an eyeful of Orihime. She was a ginger like Ichigo with an ample breast size that tended to draw the wrong kind of attention. She seemed innocent when compared to most people her age though. Before Keigo could do anything he was quickly knocked down by Ichigo himself, who he quickly claimed to be a traitor.

The group went through their boring classes and ended up on the roof again. It was here the Keigo brought up a good point that got Ichigo thinking. The horn dog had been fawning over some of their classmates again and when Ichigo confronted him about it, he asked why Ichigo wasn't concerned with finding a girl friend. At the time, Ichigo told him that his life was complicated enough already, having a girlfriend would just add too much stress to it. Keigo quickly accused him of batting for the wrong team and Ichigo quickly planted his foot in said person's ass. The day seemed to fly by after that, Ichigo made the idiots apologize for knocking over the ghost girl's vase and then he went home.

The question did stick with him and now that he had free time to mull it over, he found himself confused. Why didn't he have a girlfriend like most of the other kids his age? The answer should be simple, but it really wasn't. He claimed it would be too complicated, but would it really? He'd already gotten used to dodging his dad's attacks, his sisters were at school the majority of the day and they got back before him, so that wasn't it. Ichigo didn't find any of them repulsive, especially not Orihime. Then again he felt like that would be taking advantage the girl if he attempted to date her. Even then, there were plenty of women on the market, so why he wasn't interested was beyond him.

" _Maybe it's because of when mom..._ " He stopped the train of thought before it had time to even finish. He wasn't getting dragged back into _those_ memories like he had so many times before. In fact, he'd trained himself to stop on relfex, he didn't want to remember those times. Not now, not ever. He stared at his roof before his eyes slowly began to droop. He soon found himself slipping away into a blissful slumber, wondering what exactly he'd do about that peculiar problem...

 **xxxXXX Later that Night XXXxxx**

The house shook from the force of an explosion. An explosion so loud that Ichigo jumped in his sleep. He looked around the house wondering what happened when he heard a cry from downstairs. " _Yuzu! Karin!_ " His mind immdediately raced to his sisters as he leaped from the bed and raced into the hall way. What he found downstairs was a mess, the entire front wall had been blown up. While most of the rubble was outside, there were still a few boards littering the recreational room. Under some of the boards were his dad and his other sister Karin Kurosaki. He quickly threw the rubble off his sister first and began trying to wake her. She had raven colored hair with white skin. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing seemed fine. She wore a white T-shirt with black sleeves and a black skirt with black shoes and white socks. Another cry drew his attention to behind himself. He turned and witnessed a monster pick his sister up by her neck and begin to dangle her over it's mouth.

Ichigo immediately jumped form his current position and charged the monster. It had dark green skin and some kind of white mask over it's face with glowing yellow eyes behind the mask. The creature abrubtly stopped what it was doing and turned it's head to the new arrival. Unfortunately, it managed to spot Ichigo before he could make contact with it and swatted him away. Ichigo landed and tumbled a few times before stopping and lying still on the ground. Content that the annoyance was dealt with, it turned it's head back towards the boy's sister before the sound of struggling reached its ears. Turning its head towards the boy, it noticed that there were two of them. The boy he'd just smacked lied in the same position as before; however, now a similar version of him stood above the other. This one wore a yellow T-shirt with maroon sleeves/shoulders and blue jeans with black 'n white sneakers. The biggest change was the large _thick_ chain hanging from the shirt that latched onto the back of the other Ichigo Kurosaki.

Upon spotting the copy with a chain, the creature tossed the girl to the side, who let out a grunt from hitting the pavement. It approached Ichigo Kurosaki as swiftly as it's large body would allow. The boy payed it no mind as he was stuck staring at his own body in shock. " _What the hell?! W-What's going on here?!_ " His attention finally locked on the monster once the stomps became to loud to down out. He stared at the beast in horror before leaping out of the way as it's large hand came down upon the body. When it pulled away, the body was lying in an awkward position that disturbed Ichigo. Luckily though, the chain was now severed, allowing him to move freely and escape the monster.

Ichigo turned tail and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him, but the monster followed him quickly. Despite the appearance, the chain didn't seem to weigh anything and only served as a tripping device. He managed to evade the monster long enough to cross the street before tripping on the chain. He quickly scrambled to his feet and began running again from the beast. " _Stupid chain!_ " Ichigo remembered thinking before he was violently jerked backwards causing him land on his back. He stared up into the eyes of the beast as he became paralyzed with fear. Before he could protest, it lifted him up to eye level by his chain. The results were excruciating pain the likes of which he'd never experienced before. As he breathlessly gasped and writhed in its grip, the creature suddenly dropped him and turned its head off to the distance.

Ichigo layed in pain on the ground as he recovered from the ordeal. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out a way to escape the beast and get back to his family. A girls cry of terror drew his attention away from his current position and towards his house across the street. Standing there was his younger sister Karin Kurosaki. She took a step forward towards him, but he shouted for her to stay away. "No Karin! Find someplace to hide! Run!-GAH!" The beast pressed his head to the ground, nearly crushing it in the process, as it turned its head back towards the clinic.

Luckily it spotted not a single person, so it quickly turned its head in the previous position before beginning to drag Ichigo Kurosaki away by the chain attached to his chest. As it got further away, it opened up a black tear in what appeared to be space and time. The creature entered, dragging Ichigo along by his chain. With only seconds left, Ichigo managed to tell his sister one last thing. "Karin! Make sure Yuzu and dad are okay! What ever happens I'll be alright! I'll come back! Do you hear me?! I'll come ba-" Ichigo's voice disappeared as he was swallowed up by the darkness in front of his hiding sister's very own eyes...


	2. Counting Starts at One

**Bleached**  
by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 2  
"Counting Starts at One"

 _Forrest of Menos_

This vast forrest covered in darkness, without a single source of light, housed many creatures despite its empty appearance. Once on was deep inside the forrest, haunting echoes would reverberate to them. Inhuman screams, echoed between trees creating a terrifying atmosphere. The sounds were not the only reason to be weary of this place. Inside it housed monsters, things that feed on the souls of the recently departed. Each one wore a bone white mask and all were the thing of nightmares. The things varied in shape and size; although, the vast majority were slightly taller than a single story house with an attic.

Inside this place resided on paticular creature, it was an odity much like it had been in life. The monster had faded purple skin with long orange hair that spiked wildly in random directions until finally stopping at the middle of its back. The face was covered by a mask that was mostly white. On the left side of the mask were three red stripes that covered the forehead and one thick stripe over the bottom left of the jaw. It's eyes were sunken in and glowed yellow. It had sharp, human like, teeth that looked as if they could tear an animal to shreds in mere seconds. It wasn't large like the vast majority of its kind there, nor was it small like a considerable amount of beasts there as well. It was somewhere in the middle. If one had to guess, the beings height would be estimated at eight feet.

The monster was slowly lumbering towards an area of commotion. It seemed to move without purpose, just being drawn to the area, much akin to that of a zombie. It reached its destination and found a somewhat large gathering of hollows. They all appeared to be feasting on a massive creature covered in black. All this creature could make out were two large human like white feet and a long white spike protruding from where the head was. Looking away from the large feast, it spotted a smaller creature. It appeared to be a Komodo Dragon. A tongue flickered out of its mouth before retracting quickly. It seemed to be staring at the horde of beasts gorging themselves. It briefly noticed our friend before returning its attention back to the massacre.

The orange haired beast began shuffling away from the collective, drawing its attention once more. As it stared at the hollow walking off, screams began to fill the air. A bright flash of red formed behind the giant lizard as it watched the monster walk off. Its eyes narrowed for a split second before it dissappeared. Another powerful shriek echoed through the forrest before a massive blast of sand flew in the mindless creatures destination. The dust quickly fell to the ground and seemed to hold in place. The sudden pressure affected everything else in a much more violatile way. The massive tree trunks groaned and the lesser trees even splintered under the invisible force. As for the orange haired monster, it became increasingly difficult to breath with each milisecond that passed. Out of instinct, it waved its arm through the air as a black tear opened and allowing it to walk inside.

All that was visible was an endless void of darkness. Despite having nothing beneath its feat, the monster was still able to stand. Confused, it simply followed its natural instinct and waved its arm through the air again. This time a similar tear opened up. From its point of view, it looked like an eye's view of a city. It had tall buildings with glowing lights on them. Most importantly, it had a moon in the sky, something our friend had never seen before. It stepped out of the tear, reaching for the moon in fascination, before plummeting to the ground below with no way to stop. The resulting crash sent shock waves down the building it landed on.

 _World of the Living_

The being recovered quickly, standing up and shaking its head before sneezing. It turned its head, gazing upon the structures with wonder before it felt a pull towards the building it was on. It looked at the sizeable dent it had created in the roof before lifting both its arms and smashing through the floor. When it collapsed, screams of terror reached its ears as dust spread across the room. When the dust settled, what it found was another masked beast in what appeared to be a bedroom.

Its legs were replaced by a red tail, but its body remained the same as a normal human. The face was covered by what appeared to be a disfigured human mask. It had a single grey stripe on its red body the was from a hole in its chest up. Red eyes glowed behind its mask as it stared down the new being intently. In its hands rested a girl with the same colored orange hair as our friend. She wore a pink shirt with a yellow flower on it. She had on grey pants and light blue flower hair pins held her hair back. Her eyes had grey irises and were wide with fear as the snake/man hyrbird appeared to be choking her. She also had a decent sized chain hanging from between her breasts.

An unknown urge drove him to take the girl from the beast. He wanted, no _needed_ that girl. With no other reason but the whim, he rushed the creature and slammed it throught he wall, dropping the girl in the process. As the beast flew through the wall, our monster looked the girl. The two stared at each other, narrow yellow glowing eyes to large dull grey eyes. The moment was cut short when the snake creature rammed through a wall on off the balcony. The two tumbled to the narrow street below that was sectioned off by walls.

The two monsters threw punches at one another as they fought for dominance. The snake coiled its tail around the orange one as it gripped its wrists and leaned forward to bite down on its head. Without warning the orange haired one grabbed the snake by the neck and began choking it. The snake ceased its movements and began trying to pry the hands of its throat. The orange one would have none of it, for it quickly threw the snake off its self, forcing it through a wall. Our friend quickly flipped to its feet as the snake came charging back.

While the intial hit was powerful, it became apparent that it wouldn't win in a battle of strength with the more brutish monster. Reacting quickly, the snake wrapped its tail around the orange beasts body and began to coil its self around it. Once the our friend couldn't move, the snake pulled the orange monster's arms away and hissed. The two struggled but the snake began constricting it, crushing its rib cage.

The snake leaned down to creature, slowly opening its maw as the orange haired monster nashed its jaws and jerked violently. "Orihime!" A voice echoed from the nearby building they fell from. It was enough of a distraction as the snake turned back towards the building and spotted the ginger soul standing at the edg of the balcony. Forgetting about the other beast it flew at her only to stop mid flight. It pressed its self to move more, but was met with little improvement.

Its head jerked back and stared at the other monster holding its tail before it felt its self being pulled back. The orange haired monster began to swing the snake/man in a circle and kept speeding up until they were nothing but blurs to the girl. In a moment faster than she could follow, a red blur flew though another street wall and into more buildings. The orange haired one hissed as it took a stance on all fours before launching into the dust kicked up from the snake/man. As the two disappeared from site, the girl named Orihime turned around and noticed her best friend Tatsuki shaking her body.

Tatsuki wore a white shirt with a blue strip across the chest and a rust colored stripe just beneath it. She also wore black shorts as was in her socks at the time. She had short black hair and dark brown eyes. Her body was lithe but slightly muscular and her skin was shaded much like her old crush. Her eyes teared up as she decided to steer her thoughts away from _him_. She turned back to the two monsters clashing and noticed the orange haired one had the snake/man's neck in its maw and was biting down.

As it ripped the throat out, red specks of light gushed from the wound as it began writhing on the ground. The orange haired monster seemed to be in a frenzy as it began devouring the other beast as quickly as possible. Orihime soon found herself holding her breath out of fear. The creature finished what it could as the rest began to dissipate. It turned and stumbled back to the street before looking up at her. She stepped back out of fear; however, two people in black robe like outfits appeared before her. Each had a sword sheathed at theirs side. One figure had black hair the reached the nape of their head an was _really_ short. The other was average hieght with short black hair. They weren't too far away to hear what they were saying, for Orihime or our monsterous friend.

 **xxxXXX At the Fight XXXxxx**

"So this is a hollow huh?" The taller of the two questioned.

"Yeah, it is." The shorter responed. They had a feminine sounding voice, implying that they were female. "Think you can handle it?"

"No problem Rukia." The man grinned before drawing his sword racing towards it.

"Wait, no! You don't ever charge a hollow head on!" She dissappeared and attempted to grab him, but he was already to far ahead.

The man swung his sword in a downwards arc. It seemed simple really, with the strenght he put behind the blade, it should easily cut through the monster's flesh. Imagine his surprise when the blade was caught in its bare hand. With his assaulted halted, he could only stare at the beast before him with wide eyes as it tilted its head in confusion. It snatched him up, causing the man to let out a blood curtling scream before shoving him in its mouth, abruptly silencing the strange man. "No!"

" _I-It ate him!?_ " Orihime thought with terror. Suddenly, it became very difficult to breath was the short woman drew her blade.

"You'll pay you hollow bastard!" She dashed towards the name dubbed hollow and swung. The orange haired hollow barely managed to avoid being decapitated by the short lady before swinging his arm upward, throwing her into the air. Much to Orihime and the hollow's surprise, she slowed in mid air before stopping completly and glaring down at it. She drew her sword back and prepared to charge it again, but with a simple wave its hand, the black tear opened up and it raced through just as the woman slashed at him. The tear closed up before she attempt another follow up attack. She kneeled as she attempted to catch her breath.

 **xxxXXX With Orihime XXXxxx**

Meanwhile in her apartment, Orihime was currently staring at the scene before her. As the short woman stood up, Orihime took a step back, unsure of how she'd react to her having just witnessed that fight. Her foot caught on a wire, despite being a spirit, casing her to trip and land back on her old body. Everything was black for a moment until she heard her friends shouts.

Slowly she opened her eyes as the bright overhead light shined in her eyes. "Orihime! Wake up!" She felt her body being shook and finally raised a hand to block the light. With a groan, she sat up and looked around the room. It was wrecked and completly ruined... " _Just like when I was dreaming... Or was it?_ " Without saying anything, Orhime crawled over to the ledge and looked at the street. Sure enough, the wreckage was still there; however, the woman and monsters were gone. Every single trace of them had just disappeared.

"Orihime!" Said girl turned back towards her friend who was staring at her with concern printed all over her face. "I asked what happened..." For the first time in her life, Orihime didn't know how to answer her best friend.

"I... I don't know..." Orihim took one last look at the street below...


	3. Hope

**Bleached**  
by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 3  
"Hope"

 _Forrest of Menos_

Hollows are souls that had their chain of fate severed and allowed it to deteriorate. The are lost souls that consume other souls to fill the void in the own soul. Once a hollow has devoured enough souls it will evolve. The first stage is a normal hollow, they are the most nurmerous and the weakest. They have very few distinguishing features and are typically stupid. This is essentially the end of lower class hollows as any evolution above this ranks are referred to as Menos Grande. The lowest menos class and next step in their evolution is the Gillian class. These beasts are giagantic hollows far more powerful than an average hollow. In order for these hollows to be born, a mass gathering of cannibalistic hollows must occur. The large group will eventually fuze into one gillian. They are tall, wear black robs with white spikes sticking out around the collar bone. Their masks feature long pointy noses and generally resemble a humans face. Their feet and hands are the only other body parts viewable outside of the robe. They also have a massive hole around the abdominal area of the body.

As strange as it may sound, not all Gillians are mindless feeding machines. During the incubation period of a Gillian's life, the multitude of souls inside of it are fighting for dominance. Only the strongest personality will win out, as it just so happens, our hero's mask is currently sitting atop the giagantic body of a Gillian; although, he wasn't all there. Despite being the dominant personality in the Gillian, until he evolves, he won't be able to establish his own sentience. His thoughts will be scattered and remain that way until his ascension to the next stage, Adjuchas. The only problem with evolving was, if a single piece of your being as devoured, then your evolution would be halted forever. You would be doomed to sink back into the depths of nothing were you would disappear.

Currently our favorite Gillian was standing in a large crowd of other Gillians, and he was hungry. He walked slowly towards the nearest Gillian before biting down on its neck and ripping it open. Their were two problems with devouring Gillians. First, once the first bite happens, they seem to collapse onto the ground, meaning the bite better be a good one. The second was, never target special Gillians. The Gillian will unique masks were always smarter than the dumb ones that lumbered around like free buffetes. This made them extremely dangerous if one wanted to evolve. Our Gillian moved from one to another, ripping out their throats as quickly as possible, it had become a sort of legened amongst menos. While it wasn't intimidating to the stronger hollows, it still served as a creepy legend to frighten the weak ones.

The legend told of a Gillian with a human skull, one staned red with the blood of its victims. It was fast for its size and could appear out of thin air. It was deathly silent and always caught its prey. The last thing any of its victims would see would be its terrifying golden eyes before it dropped them down its thoat were they'd disappear forever.

For our friend life was terrifying, for he could _never_ rest. If he did, he would surely be devoured. So he never slept, he constantly tore his way through the Forrest of Menos to evolve quickly. He didn't know what drove him to do so, but he felt once he did he would know what all the effort was for.

" _Big brother! Look what we made!_ " A little girl's voice echoed in the Gillian's head.

" _Yeah?_ " This voice sound so young.

" _We made a picture of you with macaroni and glue!_ " The voice sounded so excited.

" _Can you put it on the refridgerator big brother?_ " She sounded hopeful.

" _Maybe, I'll have to ask dad._ " He sounded unsure.

" _Oh..._ " She sounded _so_ disappointed.

" _You know what? Why not._ "

" _Really?_ " Her voice sounded so happy.

" _Really Karin..._ " He sounded so happy.

The large, feral Gillian stopped in the middle of a sprint and remained still. " _Karin..._ " The name was familiar to it, but it couldn't remember. It could _never_ remember anything. That simple fact angered the Gillian.

" _Why can't we think?!_ " The Gillain resumed its rampage. It grabbed a fellow Gilian by its neck and lifted it into the air before snapping its jaws completely through. The victim fell to the ground motionless.

" _Big brother! Look what I did!_ " A girl with light brown hair and dark brown eyes flashed for a mere second.

" _Huh?_ "

" _Look! It's chicken soup! I made chicken soup from scratch!_ " The sam girl suddenly was holding a metal pot full of some liquid in it. She quickly disappeared like before.

" _That's great, mind if I taste?_ "

" _I made it for you, silly!_ " She was smilling. She couldn't be any older than eight years old.

" _Wow, that's really good Yuzu..._ " He sounded surprised...

The Gillian ripped the entire head of another Gillian before slowly wolfing it down. When it finished its golden eyes widened. " _Wait... we remembered something... Yuzu... and Karin... who are they?_ " The Gillian stared at the forrest floor. It watched the lesser hollows scurry around before resuming it's train of thought. " _No, it's not enough... We need to remember more..._ " Try as he might, the Gillian couldn't remember anything. In fact, trying only made it harder to lift the veil covering the memories.

The Gillian began to roar, letting out all of the pent up frustration. " _No! Damn it!_ " The endless black void behind the sharp teeth adopted a red hue as the roaring persisted. " _Why can't we remember!?_ " It's giant hand raised to his sides and began clenching as the roar intensified. " _Who were Yuzu and Karin to us?! Whe the hell can't I remember my own two sisters! Why can't I rememeber who I am!?_ "

" _I know, I'm glad you like it big brother._ " The little girl, she hugged another person. He couldn't see their face. They had orange hair and wore a white T-shirt with blue shoulders on.

The red light in his mouth began to enlarge its self as it reached the edge of his mouth. The surrounding area darkened as red light spewed forth from his mouth, giving a sinister look to the Gillian. A look one might describe as feral.

" _Well, it's my job to take care of you Yuzu..._ "

The beam finally climaxed and exploded outward from his mouth, decimating the landscape in front of him. The blast was noticed by miles around and attracted the attention of many bystanders.

" _My big brother's the best!_ " The voice began echoing in his head. It was driving him insane, the beam that leaped from his mouth was now gone. The only traces of its presence ever occuring was the wake of devistation and the red residual energy. " _I love you..._ " The two pulled away revealing the teenager's face. He had a pointed jaw with brown soft brown eyes. " _...Ichigo!_ "

That one word ceased is rampage. That one name had him frozen in place. His mind suddenly became clear as many of the jumbled memories held meaning now. " _Yuzu... my sister..._ " As the Gillian became trapped in his thoughts, his body began shrinking. " _Karin... my other sister._ " His body was now shrinking at a rapid pace, he was already only two thirds his previous hieght. " _I have sisters... heh... heh, heh..._ " He still couldn't speak, but by now he was only a tenth of his previous hieght. " _My name... Ichigo... Ichigo Kurosaki... I have a name!_ " He chanted in his mind once the growth ceased; however, that was the end of his happiness for some time.

Red energy began shooting up from the sands around him, circling him in a whirlpool of light. Inside he was morphing into something else. His mask began to change as did his skin. The black robe began to merge with his body and slowly turn grey before settling on a pure white. His mask began to crack as his body began shaking from the indescribable pain. His mask eventually began melting and turning into a foam. The foam eventually spread to cover his entire body and reform it.

First his legs formed, for some strange reason his legs were covered in a black tattered robe. He had two forward facing toes and one back facing toe the came out of his calf. Each came to a tapered point and were obviously meant for digging into flesh. His body was obviously taller than any human alive, being somewhere around twelve feet. His body was rippling with muscles with a single hole straight through his chest. His arms were extremely bulky as well, each arm having a pair of red tatoos lining the muscles from the over head view. The arms ended with extra long fingers, each about six inches in length, that come to a tapered point. His shoulders were decorated by three spikes each and his signature crayon orange hair had returned, this time reaching the base of his back. To finish the look, at the base of his back was a white tail. Near the tip were trickles of red flames painted on it before coming to a hard red barb at the end.

The single biggest difference came last. The bubbly foam began to bubble and flow toward the center of his face. Eventually the foam finished receding and hardened into a bleach white mask. The signature red stripes that covered the left side of his mask had disappeared. In their place were two crimson red stripes coming down from the forehead, over the cheeks, and down to the jaw bone.

The glowing yellow eyes opened up as he breathed in his first breath in this new form. At long last, he was an adjuchas, the second stage of Menos Grande. He pulled his hands up to eye level and exmained them. "I-I did it... I evolved..." He was speechless. He examine his new body closely, swinging his tail to get a feel for it.

While he was overjoyed at his accomplishment, it still lacked something that tied the whole experience together. In short, he felt empty still. " _I did it... I should be happy..._ " Finished looking his new body over, he zoned out as an overwhelming amount of sorrow filled his heart. "Then why do I feel so..."

"Empty?" Ichigo jumped at the voice. He landed on all fours with his tail raised above his head. He spotted the new commer quickly and let loose a hiss, allowing spit to dribble from his teeth onto the sands, staining them.

The creature before him was none other than another adjuchas. The hollow was a green horse with white armor plating, much in a similar fashion to midieval war horse armor. It had a dark turquoise maine and the head piece had a single horn on it.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the new arrival, but decided to remain silent. The two stared the other down for what seemed like hours; however, in reality it was only thirty minutes. " _Who is he? I need to be careful, I didn't come this far just to be blind sided..._ " Ichigo suddenly sensed things moving in the distance. He couldn't describe how he knew, but he felt them. They appeared to be moving away from the two. He tried to gauge the adjuchas' power, but found it incredibly difficult. The thing's power seemed to envelope everything around them, but it didn't thrash wildly and crush everything in its radius. Instead it seemed to just waft over everything like ocean waves on a beach.

Ichigo stared at it and it did the same. Yellow eyes clashing with brown eyes, neither giving any ground. That was until the horse closed their eyes before speaking again. "What's your name adjuchas?" It was deep and seemed elegant too. Ichigo decided just to narrow his eyes and release another warning hiss. The horse returned the eye gesture before speaking up again. "Nice try, I overheard you talking. I know you not a feral adjuchas." The horse flared their power again, sand kicked up and sped away from it in the form of a mini sand storm before everything became heavier.

" _What the?!_ " Ichigo discovered it was difficult to move now. The horse made to approach him again as he pushed his body to move from its position. Much to his terror, his body would only complete small, sudden, jerks. It was surprisingly straining on his body to attempt any form of relocation. By the time he ceased his struggles, the horse adjuchas was standing over him. "W-What did you do?!" He couldn't mask the panic in his voice. He was completely immobilized in front of an enemy that could crush his head like an egg if the chose to do so.

"I'll ask you one last time, what is your name?" The horse raised one hoof from the ground and aimed it at Ichigo's mask. The boy's eyes widened in fear, he had just evolved and he was already out matched and at death's door. "Fine, have it your way then..." Ichigo could see the muscles tense in the horse's leg as everything seemed to slow down.

" _Ichigo!_ " A voice rang through his head.

"Ichigo! My name is Ichigo!" He held his eyes shut, waiting to have his head bashed in. Fortunately, the sensation never came, prompting him to peak. His eyes widened to their extent behind the mask, less than an inch from his face was the hoof that would've ended his life...

"Ichigo huh?" The brown eyes studied him carefully, it was like the horse could see the fear rolling off him in tsunamies. It stepped back after a moment before lessing the pressure in the area. Ichigo immidiately shot up and backed away from the threat, eyes never leaving them. "You're weak..." The comment caused Ichigo to blink. He was far from weak, so why this adjuchas would claim such a thing was beyond him. As if sensing his bewilderment, the horse clarrified. "For an adjuchas, an adjuhas populating the forrest of menos, you are surprisingly weak. You would make an easy meal for any of the less merciful creatures hiding in the shadows.

"W-What are you getting at?" Ichigo's warped voice seemed to amuse the horse. "I evolved didn't I?" The horse stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"So what, there's always room for improvement. You need to get stronger."

"How?"

"You need to eat more hollows, and possibly evolve again."

" _What? Evolve again? Is he telling me that there is a form beyond this?!_ " Ichigo remained silent, but his eyes betrayed him.

"You have no idea that there is a stage beyond this do you?" The horse seemed flabbergasted that this adjuchas had not heard of the legendary pinnicle of their race. "You mean to tell me you've never heard of Vasto Lorde?"

Ichigo shook his head, completely confused by the new information. "N-No, I just recently transformed..."

"I know, but even I heard the legends before evolving to adjuchas..." It looked to the ground and was in deep thought. The whole time, Ichigo was wondering why it hadn't killed him to further its own evolution. "Looks like I'll have to help you then."

"Wait, what?" Ichigo stared at the adjuchas like it had grown a second head. A hollow helping another hollow? Let alone one competing for the same thing, was completely foreign to him.

"Well, you seem pretty ignorant in the way things work once you become an adjuchas, so it would be a shame to see you die merely because you didn't know the basics." Despite giving an answer, the horse was still just as mysterious as it had been when it arrived to Ichigo.

"Okay, but why me? There are litterally dozens of other adjuchas here." Ichigo stood to his hind legs and gestured to the forrest surrounding them. Sure enough, in the distance they could sense countless amounts of adjuchas, some were fighting and others resting.

"Well, it just so happens I'm bored with traveling by my lonesome. So aiding you is a plus. I get company and you don't have to worry about being eaten in your sleep." The horse stated somewhat childishly. This caused Ichigo to crash head first into the sand, confusing the horse just as it had him.

"So, this isn't a lie and you're not gonna kill me when I let my guard down?" Ichigo pointed to the horse from his position on his all fours in the sand.

"As you witnessed first hand, I wouldn't need to trick you if I wished to kill you." The horse raised its power ever slightly, causing a barely visible ripple. "So, are you coming or what?" The horsed preformed an action akin to raising an eyebrow, prompting Ichigo to nod his head. "Good, then follow me." It turned around and began to trot away.

" _Are all adjuchas this strange?_ " Ichigo thought as he leaped to a nearby tree and began rebounding off the surrounding trees to keep up with the hollow horse...

 **Author's Comment:**  
Bonus points to anyone who can figure out who the new adjuchas is and what reference I made when Ichigo was immobile. Have a happy new year!


	4. Investments and Determination

**Bleached**  
by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 4  
"Investments and Determination"

 _Forest of Menos_

A fairly large Gillian with a normal mask falls to the ground creating a massive sandstorm. Average hollows begin to swarm their massive pier and start shredding it. Not to far from that very position was as a komodo dragon. It's eyes were bown, it had large intimidating teeth that lined its maw and a tail that whipped from side to side, occasionally kicking up sand. It sat on a large branch, far above the viewable range of the hollows below. It was waiting for something. Then, almost like a signal, a thundering roar broke the silence of the trees, menos was born. The dragon narrowed its eyes before tensing its legs and coiling its tail. Then, as the massive titan finally came into view with the tip of its head barely being visible in the darkness, the lizard launched its self at the shambling beast. As the reptile closed in, a massive red light engulfed anything below. Startled, the reptile immediately latched onto the closest tree and hung on for dear life. As it slowed, a trail of white dust could be seen, detailing the path it followed.

The red light continued for another four seconds before quickly cutting off, shrouding everything below in smoke. The Gillian was gone, its power signature had completely vanished; although, the adjuchas could still sense lesser hollows on the ground far below. The komodo dragon attempted to peer through the smoke. Much to its dismay, there was nothing but charred forest floor. It waited for seconds before a small figure approached the lesser hollows, who collapsed like spineless jellyfish, not that it knew what those were. The komodo dragon continued to watch the adjuchas pass below. It was irritated by the events that just transpired. It had spent two weeks waiting for that Gillian to spawn. It narrowed its almond brown eyes as at the fiend below. It let loose a low hiss, allowing saliva to drip off its long tongue and fall to the sands below.

The adjuchas on the ground looked up at the komodo dragon, which it had sensed from the moment it arrived. It let loose a snort and flared its power as it attempted to intimidate it. The dragon made no motion to move from its spot and only let loose its own flurry of power. The two pushed against each others power for a brief moment before they receded. This was how adjuchas would gauge the others power in a duel. Flaring one's power near another would signal a challenge and if they accepted, they'd do the same. Their powers would clash against the others, the defender would either retreat or they would stay and fight if they felt confident enough. The komodo dragon chose to defend its territory. It tensed its legs before launching its self at the grounded adjuchas, determined to slaughter this foolish being that dared challenege it in its own domain.

As it flew through the air, a loud hiss reached its ears before something smacked into its side. It flew into a nearby tree, kicking of white dust from its impact crater. A white adjuchas with orange hair and a red tipped tail landed lower on the tree and remained crouched against it. The dust flew away as thin strips of blue energy errupted from the cloud, disbursing it. The new adjuchas dug its claws into the tree and held on for dear life. The komodo dragon targetted the larger adjucha before charging a small blue ball of light in its mouth. Before it fired the blast, the adjucha leaped into the air, forcing it to postpone the detonation in order to track the nuisence. It failed to notice the bright pink light approaching from below.

The blast hit the adjucha and sent it flying into the air, tumbling along the surface of the tree trunk. The reptile caught the tree with its claws, bring forth a trail of white dust. The orange haired adjuchas appeared several meters above the reptile and held its middle and index finger out, standing against the tree trunk, defying gravity. Suddenly all the surrounding light began to pull towards its finger tips, causing the area to darken significantly. The remaining light was pumped with energy from the orange haired adjuchas, causing it to adopt a sinister red hue. The environmental change drew the attention of the reptile, freezing it in its position as the concentration of power warped the surrounding light. A whispy growl echoed from the strange adjuchas' mouth before the orb of red detonated. The entire area was engulfed in red as the komodo dragon attempted to stand against the bast. As the komodo was slowly forced back down the tree, its eyes widened. Hair line cracks began forming along its mask before the majority of it shattered. With the loss of its strength, the komodo dragon rocketed to the ground...

 **xxxXXX Ten Minutes After XXXxxx**

The two adjuchas sat around the reptile, devouring anything they could get their mouth around. The body had already begun to disappear, so they decided to skip the formalities and eat as much as they could. The orange haired one was the first to pull back from the feast, it gasped like one would do after having a refreshing drink. After this, it simply stayed seated at the horses side. The horse finished quickly, the rest of their meal disappeared into nothing. The two hollows sat by each other for hours after the hollow had vanished. Beginning to become bored, the orange haired adjuchas spoke its mind.

"So, what now?" The horse turned looked at its companion.

"What do you mean Ichigo?" Ichigo stood up and looked up into the darkness of the canopy above them.

"We've been here for a long time, I can't sense anymore adjuchas that would further our evolution. They're all too weak..." The horse laughed at his comment, causing Ichigo to turned his head to his friend. "What's so funny?"

"We haven't been here that long Ichigo. I've been roaming this forest for far longer than you, easily ten times longer, probably more." The adjuchas turned and began walking away, leaving the other. It seemed like that was the end of the conversation, but Ichigo wasn't letting it go that easily.

"Hold on!" The horse immediately stopped and turned its head towards him. "Its been fun hanging around with you, but I can't remain here any longer. I have a purpose, I'm supposed to do something." Ichigo stared into the horses eyes, but ultimately found no change. "You can choose to remain here if you want, but I don't plan on regressing. I'm going to evolve, I'm going to-" The horse vanished before his very eyes and impaled his stomach on their horn. Too shocked to say anything, he only spat out blood through his teeth. The blood landed on the horses head before it lifted him up and chucked him to the say. HE continuously flew until smacking into a tree. He bent back upon impact before falling to the ground below.

His body fell to the ground and remained there, occasionally twitching. The horse hollow stared at him for nearly a minute before sighing. "I know your not dead, the least you can do is talk." The body remained on the ground, prompting the horse to walk over to it. Upon arriving, it flipped the younger adjuchas over on its back and stared at it. Instead of meeting golden erises, it saw light grey skin. The adjuchas was panting heavily and didn't really move much aside from the occasional twitch. "Do you see my point? I am far from being the strongest hollow in Hueco Mundo, what do you think you'll find up on the surface?"

" _Hueco Mundo? Surface? What is she talking about?_ " Ichigo thought as he tried to sit up, but found he couldn't move without being in pain.

"It looks like your back is broken, this is a common occurrence in the surface fights. If you can't even heal your self, then how do expect to combat stronger opponents?" The horses voice seemed stern, almost like it was scolding him. He could only take in a quick breath of air, still unable to do anything. "Remember that power you felt before? The same power you used to attack that adjuchas. Concentrate it around your back, it should do all the work from there." Ichigo did as she told, he began releasing his power before focusing it at the center of the pain. It took some time, but eventually it stopped hurting.

The adjuchas slowly sat up, still unsure about how well it worked. When nothing happened he slowly stood up, being sure not to overextend anybody parts and throw him into a fit of pain again. He looked at himself and felt his back before looking over to his companion. "W-What happened?"

"You used instant regeneration. Its a technique most hollows can use, but since I've essentially been coddling you, you never had to instinctively use it before now." The horse glared at him, though Ichigo was still surprised at the fact that he could heal himself.

"Wait, you said instant?" Ichigo questioned, to which the horse nodded its head. "Then how come it took some time before I could move again?"

"There's one of two possibilities. You either weren't adept at using it, so the process took longer, or you waited until the pain subsided. Either way, you would've died had this been a real fight." The horse looked towards the canopy far out of view. "You said you had something to do... What was it?" The horse looked back towards its companion.

Ichigo stood for a moment in silence, but he didn't know for sure. He just felt like there was something he wasn't doing. "I'm not sure... I have brief glances into what I was before, who I was..." Ichigo also looked up at the canopy; although, it felt like he was looking for something else. "I just feel pulled to do something, I don't know what it is, but I know it has something to do with these memories." Ichigo looked back to the horse beside him. "But I can never seem to remember fully what happened... what I'm supposed to be doing." The horse stared at him for some time and, for the first time Ichigo remembered, it didn't have a look of neutrality or negativity. Instead it looked different, foreign, almost like sadness or sorrow, however one phrased it.

"Ignore it, completely forget it was ever there." The horse looked away from him, apparently more interested in the trees to their right. "It would only lead you down a dark path. A path that no hollow, no matter how powerful, ever comes back from..." The horse began walking away from him, head hanging low to the ground. "Believe me, I know." Ichigo followed after his companion, despite having come a long way from the beginning of his evolution, the horse made it apparent that he'd be easy pickings to more experienced adjuchas.

Whether they traveled for days, or weeks, Ichigo didn't know. It was impossible to tell time in the forest of menos. " _What did she mean by the surface?_ " He tried to imagine what kind of monsters lived up there, in the abyss of black. He could never imagine himself living up there, surrounded by darkness all time. Yet, he would have to if he were to fulfill his destiny. They walked in silence and despite Ichigo's desire to break it, he kept quiet, at least for some time. Everyone has their breaking points, he couldn't bear the silence any longer, it reminded him of when he was a Gillian. "What's on the surface?" The horse stopped moving, as did Ichigo. He couldn't continue to follow the adjuchas aimlessly, he wouldn't regress like so many others.

"..."

"I need to know. Sooner or later I will go up there, I am going to do what I was meant to." Ichigo spoke with determination in his heart, but the effect was lost on the other. It turned towards him, scrutinizing eyes boring into his.

"You truly are set on going up there aren't you?" A single nod from Ichigo sealed his fate. A quick burst of speed and without Ichigo even realizing it, the horse sent him flying through several trees.

"*Cough* W-What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo managed to catch himself by digging his claws into the sand below. As he looked a noticed a blur rocketing towards him at break neck speeds. He barely threw his hands up in time to catch the horn belonging to his former pal. "S-Stop it you psychopath!" The front legs of said horse kicked his chest, sending him crashing through another tree. Upon crashing into the second tree, massive amounts of white sand kicked into the air. Ichigo quickly healed his back again before leaping to his left. Just after he did a green blur shot through the smoke screen like sand cloud. He slowed himself as he tried to get his bearings, but his companion would have none of it. The horse slammed into him from the side; however, instead of Ichigo being launched back, he slid back a meter while holding horse.

He quickly pushed the horse onto its hind legs and jabbed his tail out. The horse barely side stepped the tip before pink light quickly gathered at its horn before blasting out at Ichigo. The result was the hollow smashing into another tree, which began to collapse on its self. Ichigo stumbled to his feet as large chunks of white material crashed down beside him, kicking up more sand and obscuring his vision. " _W-Were is he? Damn it! I can't see him!_ " Ichigo's wide eyes were useless as the sand coated the area in a smoke screen. " _Wait I can sense him!_ " He closed his eyes and focused his energy. His eyes immediately snapped open as he turned to his right. " _H_ _e's right beside me!_ " Unfortunately his head was the only one that completed the turn. The horse came charging through the smoke and into his side, knocking him breathless. Saliva was slung from his mouth from the impact; however, the horse wasn't finished. With one final thrust, it through him from the smoke cloud and threw another tree. From there he skipped along the sands, doing cartwheels until he landed on his side, one arm dragging against the sand and the other holding his side. He slid, kicking up more dust, before eventually slowing.

His eyes were shut tight as he fought to remain conscious. Slowly, the horse adjuchas approached him. It took its time with each step, it knew he was incapacitated, so there was no need to rush. It stopped above his form, staring at him emotionlessly. If it wasn't for the horse adjuchas' enhanced hearing, it might have thought Ichigo was dead, but it could hear his faint breaths.

"Ichigo, you wanted to go to the surface... Well your first lesson on survival starts now..."


	5. Get Up and be Strong

**Author's Comment:  
** Feed back would definitely be appreciated, so any reviews are welcome. To be honest, I'm surprised there weren't more reviews for a bleach fan fiction, but I digress. I took me some time to figure out where I was going with this chapter, but I think I nailed it on the head this time.

 **Bleached  
** by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 5  
"Get Up and be Strong"

 _Forest of Menos_

A shock wave rocked the forest of menos for miles around, approximately a four miles radius from the epicenter. As unbelievable as it might be, only two people stood at the center of the havoc. They were both adjuchas and each were immensely powerful by most standards. The two bounced around the forest at break neck speeds and eventually the two would clash into each other. Every time a gust of wind would soar away, followed immediately by a shock wave. The intensity of the fight had driven many of their fellow adjuchas far away, to avoid being pulled into the fight.

The two adjuchas that were clashing were vastly different in appearance. One was a horse with bleach white battle armor. It had a dark turquoise mane and had dark green skin with brown eyes. A signature feature of the horse was the horn atop the head piece. The other adjuchas was a strange sight, even among hollows it stuck out. It had orange hair the spike wildly until reaching its lower back where a tail formed with a red barbed tip. It was surprisingly muscular with a large hole in the center of its chest. Its mask resembled the skull of a human, but with no nose hole and it had crimson strips heading down the forehead, over the eyes, and straight to the jaw. It also had two rows a menacing sharp teeth. Its fingers tapered into points much like the two toes it had. To add to its physical arsenal again, one would want to take note of the backward facing claws that resemble a raptors. It had red tattoos bordering the muscles along its arms with glowing yellow eyes.

Currently, the two were pushing against each other in the middle of the clearing. The hybrid adjuchas was pushing the horse back while holding onto its horn. The horse had buried its hooves in the sand and was resisting. "Come on! Is that all you got Ichigo?!" The deep voice of the horse boomed.

With a roar of frustration, Ichigo began to lift the horse into the air by his horn. He released a gurgle like growl as he struggled to lift the horse any higher. As the horse began to be raised slowly, it readied its front legs to kick the younger adjuchas back. Just as they had a straight shot to Ichigo, the adjuchas did something unexpected. He slid underneath the horse's head and pressed his body between its front legs, stopping it from kicking him. The horse's eyes widened as Ichigo continued to pull on the horn, lifting the adjuchas over his shoulder. The two were deadlocked for some time before Ichigo's determination prevailed. Slowly but surely he lifted the horse over his shoulder. Consequently the horse began to loose balance, breaking its focus enough for Ichigo to slam it into the ground in front of him. As the sand kicked up into a smoke screen, Ichigo leaped pack and threw is hand out in front of himself. He pointed his index and middle finger at the sand cloud before large amounts out red light began to swirl around the tips. They quickly compressed into a small ball before erupted towards the sand cloud.

The light sliced it in half before disappearing into the distance. Much to Ichigo's shock, nothing was there except scorched tree trunks and scorched sand. He extended his sensing field and ducked down as a horn flew over his head. The adjuchas quickly cartwheeled away before a pair of legs could kick him. He landed on all four of his limps before launching at the horse. His quick reflexes caught the horse off guard, allowing him to tackle it into the sand. The two wrestle for a minute until Ichigo managed to wrap his tail around the back hooves and sit on its side. He pinned the head to the sand and raised his fingers to the horse's eyes. "I win." Ichigo's voice seemed more distorted than the last time we'd seen him. I sounded more like a whisper, possibly a tad more insane too. The unique adjuchas climbed off of the horse adjuchas, allowing it to stand.

The horse turned its head towards him, looking him in the eyes before letting loose a deep laugh. This prompted Ichigo to raise an eyebrow, not that they could see it, before being launched away and through a tree, kicking up enormous amounts of dust. "I never I said I give up." The horse did a small twirl with its tail before turning back towards her companion. "Well done Ichigo!" The horse's deep voice reached the adjuchas' ears from where he lay sprawled out on the ground. He moaned before getting to his feet and making his way back to the horse. Upon arrival, he gave the horse a middle finger. "Ichigo, I'm touched you think so much of me!" The sarcasm was evident enough.

"So when do we get to go to the surface?" The hollow looked towards his friend.

"You need to eat another adjuchas before we reach the surface. You're skilled, I'll give you that; however, you're not strong enough to hold your own against the higher adjuchas. If we manage to eat another adjuchas, we should be a strong enough pair that most of the rift raft won't come near us." Ichigo could only offer a nod of approval. Before the conversation could continue, they felt something racing towards them. It wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but it definitely wasn't a push over. "Speak of the devil..." The two turned in the general direction of the powers source, which was closing in fast.

"Hey, don't you find it odd that we have such good luck?" Ichigo turned his head to his companion.

"No, I just find it convenient you know?"

"Huh..." The ginger hollow looked at his feet in thought before looking back. "I've just realized something... You know my name, but I don't know yours. Why is that?" The horse blinked before looking at him.

"You know, I'm not sure..." The horse looked back towards the power source. Ichigo waited for a small duration before commenting one last time on the subject.

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?" The horse shook its head, leaving Ichigo to sweat drop. The two remained there as the waited for the new comer to arrive. Ichigo actually took his time to start examining his surroundings. Him and... horsey... spent a long time there, so the least he could do was examine the soon to be battle field. It should come to no ones surprise that it was primarily clearings of sand and thick white tree trunks. The two had destroyed the majority of trees in the nearby area, so much so that one could actually look as far as their eyes would allow, and still not see a the forest line.

" _Wow, it sure has been a while. It only feels like a short time ago that I evolved into an adjuchas... I wonder how far off I am, from becoming a Vasto Lorde._ " Ichigo left his thoughts when a loud boom echoed through out the forest. All Ichigo could do was leap to evade a large purple flash that decimated anything below. He briefly wondered whether his friend made it out in time; however, he didn't wonder long. He was rocketing towards the ground before realizing he had ever been hit. Luckily the purple light disappeared before he crashed into the ground. " _Damn! They're fast!_ "

Ichigo quickly stood up and dashed to were he sensed the new adjucha. Currently it was in a dead lock with the horse, but Ichigo could tell it was losing. It slowly began to be shoved back, but when Ichigo got near the two, it redirected the horse into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground. It let out a shriek before gathering purple light in its mouth. Ichigo and his companion barely had time to dodge before it erupted towards them. Ichigo watched as the beam soared off into the distance before erupting in a bright display of power. Because of this, he didn't have the time necessary to stop the enemy from ramming into his back. As the two crashed to the ground, the creature began to claw at Ichigo's back. It left huge gashes that dug deep, it even went to peck at the back of is neck. Fortunately it was warded off by a bright pink blast.

Ichigo, now on the ground, stood up and glared at his opponent. The opponent was a bird adjuchas with a helmet over its head with slots in it. The bird had primarily red feathers with blue feathers at the edges of its wings. All in all, it looked similar to how one imagines a red and blue parrot, except with a bone white helmet over its head. The bird had yellow feet with large talons attached to them, exactly what it used to gouge him.

The bird wasted no time and immediately dove for his counter part, allowing the chance to charge his own energy attack. The horse and bird clashed, neither budging until the horse gathered pink light around its horn and used it to blast the bird away. As the bird was flying in the air, Ichigo simultaneously released his red light and let it crash into the bird. The two stared at the sand kicked up from the attack. It wasn't enough to kill the bird, not even close. They weren't left waiting for long because shortly after a strong gust of wind blew all the san away, leaving the bird hovering mid air. It was glowing from purple light surrounding it and it only seemed to be getting brighter. The two adjuchas leaped away as a massive hurricane of power tore through the ground and anything close to the bird.

Ichigo landed on a tree trunk and looked down as his companion stayed grounded. The two waited for the bird to emerge, but it never did. The smoke cleared to reveal a smoking black crater. "Huh?" Ichigo stared down in confusion. " _Did that thing just kill its self-_ " Ichigo was soon rocketing towards the ground again, this time he managed to latch onto the tree trunk and stop himself about five meters from it. The bird was following him closely, so it used its right leg to grab the back of his head and slam him into the sand below before leaping up and evading another attack from the horse.

The bird quickly dived at the horse when it began to charge another pink attack on its horn. It followed the horse's lead and began charging its own purple attack. When the horse released its attack, imagine the surprise it felt when the bird spun in air before diving underneath it and into its face where it released the attack. The resulting explosion was massive, the horse flew far before regaining its bearings. When it came to a stop, the bird was already behind the bleeding the horse. The bird grabbed the horse by its neck and forced its face into the sand, causing a big explosion of sand. It would've pinned it and released another attack if it hadn't been for Ichigo approaching. The bird narrowly evaded him and flew into the sky. Ichigo knelt down beside the horse to see if it was okay, which it was. Aside from a few bruises and some blood trickling out of its mouth, it appeared the same as ever. "Be careful, it's purposely targeting our masks." The horse warned.

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Ichigo looked up to the bird as it began to gather purple energy in its mouth. "What should we do?" Ichigo was a bit worried, they had barely even touched the bird and it was spewing those things out like nothing. A chuckle reached his ears.

"No need to worry Ichigo." The horse stared at the bird. "This one is a feral hollow, meaning that its movements are impossible to predict..." Ichigo sweat dropped before looking at his counter part.

"That doesn't necessarily make me feel any better you know." The horse ignored his words and continued to watch the bird charge its attack.

"Because it can't reason, it doesn't know how to conserve power. Haven't you felt it? Its power has already dropped to about three fifths of what it used to be." Her words made sense, now that Ichigo began sensing the things power, it wasn't all that strong.

"You're right... Come to think of it, its attacks were more annoying than painful." He stared back at the bird again. Its attack was begging to spin wildly. It would soon launch it.

"Exactly, its whole strategy is based off of overwhelming its enemies." The horse readied its self, it would take a lot of power to hold that blast off. "Ichigo, I need you read to flank it. I am going to distract by counter its attack with my own." Ichigo only nodded his head in confirmation. "Good, get ready." The horse began to gather large streaks of pink energy at its horn. It went on for another thirty seconds before the time to act came. The bird hollow release its attack, one that darkened the entire area as all light seemed to gravitate towards it. It wasn't the usual form of attack though. It came out spiraling towards the horse and its attack!

 **xxxXXX With Ichigo XXXxxx**

The moment Ichigo sensed the bird's energy climax, he took off to the left. He was moving as fast as he could move, which was _very_ fast. He made a wide arc, as the blasts rocketed towards each other, finally catching a glimpse of the purple attack just before they impacted. " _Is that fire?!_ " Ichigo wasted no time and kept his speed consistent. As he approached, something shocking happened. The purple blast intensified and began to spear head the horse's attack. It split into six beams. One thick beam worked its way through the pink attack. The other five, far smaller, streams of energy were shooting just barely off course, almost like the pink attack was winning. It was then that Ichigo realized what was happening. The smaller blasts would impact first, kicking up sand and throwing the horse of balance . When the pink blast destabilized, the purple fire would power through and incinerate his companion. He focused his energy into his arms and pushed himself so had that he was at least twelve feet ahead of the sand cloud that appeared to be following him.

Just before the small streams of energy erupted on the floor of the forest, Ichigo tackled the bird hollow out of the sky, causing the purple flame to be overwhelmed by the pink attack. As Ichigo clung to the bird, he dodged its beak as it tried to peck at his mask. The fifth time he dodged the beak, he over extended and ended up with it buried deep in his shoulder. "Agh!" His voice seemed even more distorted than before. It stared at were he presumed the birds eyes to be before he wrapped his tail around its neck and began constricting its movement. His eyes glowed brighter than they had before as he began strangling the bird adjuchas. He crushed its wings in his hands before he dug his feet claws into its chest.

The two blasted into the ground, digging through it for sixty feet or so and kicking up sand into the sky, before stopping. The bird struggled as it squawked what it could whilst being asphyxiated by his tail. Ichigo began pushing his legs further into the bird, pulled its wings closer to his body, and began yanking its head back with his tail. He hissed at the adjuchas, saliva being flung out of his mouth and into the bird's mask slots.

It took less than ten minutes for the horse adjuchas to reach them when it, much to its horror, saw a very feral looking Ichigo strangling the bird that was limp. The whole time Ichigo was roaring in a gurgled and distorted voice. It tentatively approached, concerned about its own safety in the event that he was a feral hollow; although, the adjuchas wasn't even sure how Ichigo could've become one. He'd displayed no signs or it.

"Ichigo..." Said hollow turned toward the horse with a snarl and the two had a stare down...


	6. On Cloud Nine?

**Author's Comment:**

This is the longest chapter posted in the story so far at twice the normal length. I put a lot of effort into my stories and I must say. I have not been this motivated to do a story since my very first one " _Alpha and Omega: A Twist of Fate_ " Also, updates will slow slightly because of my vacation coming to an end, but I digress. Anyways, with out any further a due, I present chapter six of Bleached...

 **Bleached  
** by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 6  
" _On Cloud Nine?_ "

 _Forest of Menos_

Ichigo stood over the dead bird, staring at his counterpart, waiting for them to make a move. He didn't know what was going on, he was completely disconnected from reality at this point. The two remained there, motionless, for an unspecified amount of time before the horse took the first action. It called out his name. "Ichigo..." Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him like one big migraine. He gripped his head as he let loose a growl of disapproval. Slowly, but surely, red light began to swirl around him as the air became heavy. Ichigo had not been paying any attention to his surroundings as he let his power flow freely. He simply squeezed his head, he wanted to make the pain stop. He _needed_ the pain to go away, he just couldn't bear it at the moment. As if sensing his inner turmoil, the horse charged him and, with one swift kick, knocked him out.

The horse stared at his resting form for some time before it noticed the body begin to deteriorate. " _After all the trouble we went through, I shouldn't waist it._ " The horse walked over to the food and began tearing off chunks of it. It went like this for five minutes before stirring drew their attention from the carcass to their friend. A blur raced past them, causing them to stumble slightly. The horse craned its head and stared at its companion. The same one that went feral less then ten minutes ago was now greedily gobbling up the meal. As the horse went to speak, it was cut off by said adjuchas.

"Wow, didn't think you'd try to take all the food. No wonder you're packing on the pounds." The comment made the horse blink before narrowing its eyes at the hollow. It approached it form behind and blew it a couple of meters away with a small pink energy blast. "Ow..." Was the only reply from the lizard like hollow.

"Ichigo, what happened to you?" The adjuchas stood on his hind legs before looking back to the horse and cocking his head. "Don't give me that... You went feral..." Ichigo sighed before looking at the sand near his feet. The burns on his back already healed and the wound in his shoulder already sealed.

"I don't know... I got lost in the heat of battle, that's all..." Ichigo turned back towards his companion, waiting for their reply.

"We'll talk later. As for now, we need to eat this adjuchas and see the surface." The way the horse's attitude snapped from dead seriousness to playful confused Ichigo. Never the less, Ichigo nodded and began to devour the adjuchas with his friend...

 **xxxXXX The Dunes of Hueco Mundo XXXxxx**

Ichigo stood in awe at the sight before him. Never before had he seen something like what he was seeing at that moment. The endless stretches of white along with the nearly black sky populated by one crescent shaped moon. Compared to the Forest of Menos, this place was heaven to Ichigo. He slowly put his hand above his face, open palmed, before squeezing it tight. "Wow..." He stood there staring into the night sky for what seemed like hours. Eventually though, his companion grew bored and decided the could be spending their time on better things then star gazing. Not that the sky had any stars to begin with.

"No need to act so star struck Ichigo, keep your mouth open and you'll catch a fly." A chuckled followed afterword. Breaking out of his gaze, Ichigo turned to his companion and nodded.

"So what do we do now?" The horse narrowed its eyes at him, probably thinking he was an idiot.

"You were the one suggesting we come up here. It's your decision what we do from here on out." The two stayed in silence for an unknown amount of time before Ichigo snapped his long fingers.

"I know, let's focus on achieving our Vasto Lorde forms. After all, we have nothing else to do, right?"

"I suppose not..."

"Great, I sense a power not to far from here anyway. C'mon." Ichigo turned around and almost ran off like a giddy child. His friend yanked him back to the ground before he could go anywhere else.

"Ichigo, before we go off on this hunt for our evolutions, there's something you need to know." The ginger hollow turned to face is friend, feet pressed against one another and arms resting against ankles whilst propping him up, almost like a kid would sit. "These adjuchas aren't the same as the ones we fond in the Forest of Menos. They are far more viscous and a notably more powerful." Ichigo gave her a curious look before commenting on her lecture.

"Look, I already figured that much. No need beating a dead horse, right?" He chuckled at his own joke; however, he ceased laughing when his friend remained solid as stone.

"This is no game Ichigo, they won't hesitate to kill you or me..." The horse paused for moment, mentally debating whether it should share this tid bit of information with him. " _No, he needs to know..._ " With a sigh, the horse decided it was for the best that he knew. "If you get bitten, loose even a scrap or morsel of your body, you will never be able to evolve. You will be doomed to regress..." Ichigo froze upon hearing the last statement.

" _Wait, what? So not only can I not allow my mask to be damaged, but I can't allow a single piece of me to be devoured?! No wonder Vasto Lordes are legends, no one can ever reach them..._ " Ichigo stood from his sitting position. Shadows of unknown origin danced across his mask, hiding his eyes from the horse's view. "It doesn't matter..." The horse's eyes widened ay his statement.

" _What? Doesn't matter?_ "

"If I won't try then nothing will change." Ichigo looked up and into the horse's eyes. Brown met yellow in a clash of emotions. "I won't let it happen..." For a brief moment, less than five seconds, the horse would have sworn it saw to shades in Ichigo's eyes opposed to the normal yellow. The bright yellow irises were the same as always, but the pupils appeared to be a dark mustard yellow. Of course, this was so brief that the horse played if off as a trick of the light. "I, Ichigo Kurosaki, am going to become a Vasto Lorde." Something strange began to swell up in the chest of the horse adjuchas. They couldn't explain it, but they wanted to get to work right away. "I, Ichigo Kurosaki, promise this. I, Ichigo Kurosaki, brother to Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki, will fulfill my destiny, whatever it may be." The horse blinked as it stared at Ichigo. Never before had one made it feel so powerful. Never before had one sounded like they could overcome anything. Nothing had ever seemed so sure, so determined, as its friend right now.

'Fine then. I will aid you, Ichigo Kurosaki." With no more words exchanged, the two blasted off towards the nearest adjuchas.

When they arrived it seemed the adjuchas was just wondering the dessert aimlessly, at least until it spotted the two other adjuchas. In mere nanoseconds, the monster was upon them and swinging a bladed talon down at Ichigo. Fortunately, Ichigo side stepped the attack after having been taught how to predict it , before slashing the adjuchas' throat open. Red blood squirted from it, forcing the adjuchas to raise its remaining hand up to the wound, leaving its self open. Ichigo did a back flip as his partner charged in, pink ball of light crowning their horn, and impaled the wild adjuchas on it. The adjuchas began to twitch and jerk violently until their entire bottom half was blown away by the compressed attack. With only a gurgle left, the hollow fell to the ground and were it lied motionless. The horse volunteered to approach it first, but Ichigo denied, claiming he'd be better to handle the thing anyways.

Ichigo walked up to it and, much to the horse's surprise, dug his middle and index finger into its sockets, eliciting a scream off terror from the half hollow. Wasting no time, Ichigo placed the thing's throat between his fingers and began pulling the head off. It squealed and screeched in pain as the sound of tearing flesh was heart. Such an action would've forced one to begin clawing and fighting using every method available. Unfortunately for this hollow, Ichigo's tail bound its only two arms together. With one last squelch the head, and spinal collume, came free and were stripped from the body. Ichigo held the head up and examined it under the moon light before letting loose a haunting whisper of a growl. Such actions worried the horse, but as long as he didn't begin to attack them, they would be fine.

"You gonna eat Ichigo?" The horse began to dine on the adjuchas' body before Ichigo turned back towards them.

"Yeah, now come on. I'm still hungry." Ichigo once again chuckled at his own joke. Hollows were always hungry because they always were missing something. The two tore into the adjuchas, completely devouring it before ten minutes even passed. Ichigo let loose a belch before looking at his companion. "That wasn't really satisfying, you agree?" A small nod made a grin form on the ginger hollow's face, not that they could see it. "Good..." Ichigo turned off in the distance and braced his body before rocketing off with the horse in close persute. " _Yuzu, Karin... I will find you..._ " Ichigo blinked it his eyes mid run, something that caused him to begin skidding along the ground before rolling to a stop. The horse slowed down beside him and looked towards him for an explanation to what happened.

"You alright, Ichigo?"

"Yeah, just got caught in my thoughts..." Ichigo made his way back to his feet and began to sprint again into the dessert, his companion still following. Whether they traveled for days or months, it didn't matter to them. The same went for how far the traveled, it could have been miles, but they didn't pay attention. They could neither tell time nor distance. But how could they though? There was no sun, only perpetual night that never changed, not that they had a concept of time anyways. Hueco Mundo's dessert was featureless, beside the occasional rock or dead tree poking out of the ground, nothing seemed to change.

They weren't annoyed by it though, it was far better to see an endless dessert with an ever lasting moon in the sky than to see tree trunks and darkness everywhere. The two made quick work of most hollows that stumbled upon them, wherever they went were adjuchas willing to fight them despite the power difference. Rarely did Ichigo's partner fight, usually it was just Ichigo slaying the fools. As it would happen, Ichigo brought this fact up to his friend, to which they replied that he would never get stronger if they kept coddling him. Much to Ichigo's annoyance, it refused to get involved, despite how much the odds were in the enemies favor. Their relationship had evolved in close friends bickering to pass the time.

"Get off me fat ass!" Ichigo wiggled and writhed beneath the older adjuchas as he struggled to escape. On top of him was the horse adjuchas he'd been traveling with. I was currently pressing its front hooves into his back, apply as much pressure as it could.

"Take it back!" The horse growled out through clenched teeth.

"If your fat ass gets of me then maybe I will!" Ichigo began to force himself off the ground before collapsing again. The weight of the horse and the pressure they were applying really was too much for him to lift. "Damn! What do you eat all day? Rocks?!" The pressure lifted off his back and he, seeing his chance to escape, attempted to leap out from under the horse. Unfortunately it caught the tattered black robes around his pants and began to swing him around. "Woah!" Ichigo circled around five more times before he attempted to break free. "Let go!" He tried to reach the horse's face, but the force was pulling his body away. "No! Seriously!" The world began to spin to Ichigo as a disorientating feeling invaded his mind. He began to feel sick making him instinctively raise his hands to his mouth. "I'm gonna be sick!" The horse heard his last cry, deciding he'd had enough, and planted his front feet into the sand whilst throwing the orange haired hollow into the distance where he quickly crashed into a rock.

Ichigo stumbled to his feet before he began to look around his surroundings. Much to his displeasure, everything seemed to be in triplets. He focused his attention on his feet before a light gust of wind brushed against him. " _Wow, that feels good._ " Ichigo closed his eyes and admired the breeze before being knocked off his feet by a sudden and unexpected blast of air. "Wagh!" Ichigo flipped onto his feet and dug his claws into the sand before looking at the source of energy. Much to his horror, it was a bright red blast in the direction he remembered his friend being in. " _Why the fuck do they always have purple energy!_ " Ichigo mentally screamed as he closed in.

 **xxxXXX Explosion Center XXXxxx**

A frightening hollow approached the horse it had just ambushed, it looked like something out of a horror flick. Its mask was that of a wolfs, it had the body of a gorilla if it was twenty feet tall, and had spikes climbing up its spine. It even had a tail poking out; although, it was far too short to be effective. Anything below the collar bone and above the base of its hands were covered in red fur. Weird as it may be, the pectoral muscles and abdominal muscles were the only other parts with no fur. In front of it laid a horse like adjuchas. It grinned behind its mask before reaching down and picking said adjuchas up and raising it to its mouth. Before it could bite down, its arm suddenly lost all feeling. A loud crash reached its ears causing it briefly look down in wonder to what happened. Much to its shock, it found the very same arm in the sand below. It took less than a minute for the pain to grab hold. Its loud roar echoed out from him as it cluched the bloody stump of a shoulder.

Ichigo landed nearby with the horse adjuchas over his shoulder. He sat it down were it quickly regained consciousness. "W-What's going on?" It tried to get to its feet, but Ichigo stopped it.

"No, I got this. You just wait here..." The horse paused before nodding. It had confidence in Ichigo, but the gap between power was small and that worried it. Ichigo walked for about twelve meters before stopping. Confused, the horse went to question his motives for stopping, but Ichigo answered first. "Besides, I'm pretty sure all that time you spent stuffing your self has made you slow." Without waiting for a response, he rocketed up into the air to attack the giant before them.

"ICHIGO!" The horse roared despite him being long gone.

Ichigo was mid flight when the monster ceased roaring and backhanded him far away, about thirty meters. Ichigo quickly flipped over and dug his claws into the ground, much to his surprise though, he kept sliding. The large hollow appeared in front of him with impossible speed with its entire right arm back. It threw a punch at him, forcing him to take to the sky. As he flew through the sky with no control over his trajectory, he began to panic.

\- BLEACH O.S.T. Treachery -

" _Damn it! How the hell is he that fast!_ " Before he could pounder any further, the monster leaped up to his height, prompting Ichigo's eyes to nearly bulge out of his mask. With a single swipe, Ichigo was crashing back to the ground with the wind knocked out of him. When he impacted, his shout of pain could be heard all the way of by his companion, one that was easily thirty-five meters away. From his spot Ichigo could see the large hollow falling towards him, feet first. " _Crap, gotta move._ " He managed to reach his feet and curled onto all fours and leaped. Less than a second later there was a large foot stomping where he was. The resulting shockwave and sand storm carried Ichigo for twelve meters. Ichigo laid buried in the sand, already exhausted. He began to stir, but the sand suddenly began crushing him.

"W-What the?!" Outside of the sand dune was being dug up by the creature. It knew where Ichigo was and began to crush the sound around him, intending to have a swift victory. "Gah!" Ichigo cried out from his sand prison as he desperately tried to claw his way out of it. "Damn it! How much sand is there?!"

Outside the monster was truly enjoying taking its time. Its power began to rise immensely before it was blind sided by a pink ball of light. Slowly it turned its head back to the downed horse before narrowing its inky black eyes. It was completely unaware of the red streaks of light shooting out from between its fingers. The resulting explosion incinerated its hands.

\- BLEACH O.S.T. Power to Strive -

The beast leaped back while starring at the smoke cloud. Much to its surprise, it was completely blown away for streaks of red energy the were shooting into the sky. The light seemed to absorb all surrounding light, causing everything to either become tinted by red or darken considerably. Ichigo let out a roar causing the sands to scatter around him before funneling upwards into a tornado of sorts. He was going all out, he couldn't afford to hold back, he couldn't afford to lose. Ichigo rocketed towards him at over one hundred miles per hour and crashed into the adjuchas, sending it flying back into the sands.

It easily caught its self, but it noticed the sand flowing in a circle near the ground. A circle that the ginger hollow was standing above. Now that the giant thought about it, how was this hollow with no wings standing there in the air? The giant saw the hollow's legs tense before it rocketed towards him with break neck speeds. The giant barely raised its arm in time to stop the ensuing clash that created a crater so deep, the sand began to compress into glass. The two flew away from one another before slowing, but this brief moment of peace was quickly interrupted when a bright red flash flew towards the giant who opened the palm of its hands and threw a larger purple attack. Much to its surprise, Ichigo came spinning sideways over its attack before bringing its left hand down in a swipe like pattern. The result was a streak of red energy and the titan kneeling in the sand. Due to no focus on the purple energy, Ichigo's attack flew through the giants and slammed into its mask. The resulting explosion threw the giant back and, much to everyone's shock, split its mask down the middle with a hairline crack.

Ichigo was done though, he quickly closed in on the giant while it was still on its back. Appearing over it, he pointed at it with two fingers from his right hand and began charging another powerful attack. He could feel the things power leaking away quickly, so Ichigo decided to kill it before anything more power would be lost. For miles around anything could see the sky turn a dark shade of crimson from the resulting explosion. The closer anyone was, the more red the sky became.

The smoke cleared in a matter of minutes, leaving a deep crater were the head and collar bone used to be. The hole extended deep into the sand, all the way to the Forest of Menos, which was completely bar aside from the scorching black landscape that was the aftermath. It took a moment, but Ichigo soon found himself on the ground feeling completely exhausted.

A certain horse adjuchas raced over to see if he was fine which, much to the horse's relief, he was. It then took to berating him for being so reckless. To which he only chuckled, drawing upon the horse's curiosity. "What's so funny? You could've been killed, or worse. Forced to regress..."

"How's about you shut up and just eat the damn thing." Despite having a mask sealed to his face, one could tell from his tone that he was smiling. The horse decided to drop the subject for the moment and devour the massive hollow. After minute or two of resting, Ichigo joined in the feast. The two ate like savages, there was more than enough to go around before the decaying process sat it; although, Ichigo was still winded from his fight. The only problem was, all of that power was evenly spread across the body, meaning they had to rush to get the most.

While they devoured what they could, the horse adjuchas thought of their companion. " _He had come a long way since we met in the Forest of Menos._ " Some blood splattered into the horse's left eyes, but it paid it no mind. " _That power... He is easily mid class adjuchas, but how? He's only been sentient for about a hundredth the time I have been... I guess he has earned the right to know my name..._ " The horse stopped and sense Ichigo's strength. What it thought was true, Ichigo was upper mid-level adjuchas. Not in the top tier of adjuchas, but definitely something most would avoid if possible. " _I wonder how strong he'll become..._ " The horse went back to continue eating. " _It certainly would be interesting to see his Vasto Lorde-_ " A bright explosion of pink energy overflowed into the sky, darkening anything around and creating hurricane like winds. The result was sand being kicked into Ichigo's face who, in response, threw his arms up and screamed for his companion!

"Horse! Are you there?! Hooorrrse!" The pink light swirled into a tighter coil in the sky before it shot down at a point too bright for Ichigo's eyes to make anything out. Once all the energy was compressed a large explosion occurred, kicking up sand for a sixty meter radius. The sand didn't linger long for it was soon blown away from the center and a pressure immensely heavily brought Ichigo to his knees. It only seemed to get heavier by the second. He managed to lift his head and spot his friends hooves; however, when Ichigo lifted his head up, he was not met with the sight of his friend. They had dark turquoise hair, the lower half of horse if they came in the color green, the upper body of a well endowed woman and a cartoonish ram skull on their head. They also sported war armor on their body such as shin guards, wrist gauntlets, beast plates, and even a chest plate for the horse chest. All things considered, they were almost as weird as him. "You... what the hell did you do with horse?!"

Brown eyes bore into yellow eyes before narrowing. "My name is Nelliel Tu Odelshwanck..." It raised its right arm, with Ichigo now realized is a fairly wide and tall javelin. "AND I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALM ME HORSE!" The new hollow shot their arm forward; however, the javelin acted more like a rocket as it hit Ichigo and sent him flying for some time before skidding to a halt. He managed to sit up quickly and glare at his opponent, that was until the gears in his head started turning and the dense hollow finally connected the dots.

"Wait... Horse... Is a girl?!" He stared wide eyed had the human/horse hybrid until he was hit in the gut again by another javelin.

"I told you not to call me that!" An angered voice shouted to him from a distance...


	7. To be or Not to be

**Author's Comment:** I got this out just before New Years. By the way, Happy New Years! Anyways, this is the last update for a while. If you don't know, I have other stories on my profile and, despite this being my passion, I have a pole up for people that want certain stories updated. If you feel this story should be updated as one of three a month, then make sure to vote for it. Have a good day and enjoy!

 **Bleached  
** by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 7  
"To be or Not to be"

 _The Dunes of Hueco Mundo_

Ichigo was walking through a seemingly endless dessert, his motive behind doing such were tragic. Five days ago, he had been traveling with his recently evolved friend. Nelliel was their name. Apparently he had been a she the whole time, much to Ichigo's embarrassment. Nelliel had, no longer needing to eat fellow hollows, allowed Ichigo to finish the meal by his lonesome. After the deed was done, the two shared an almost awkward moment of silence before addressing the elephant in the room. The Vasto Lorde gave Ichigo a good beating due to his insensitivity before explaining that she was always a female and that he was just too dense to notice. Ichigo's defense was her voice was the deepest he'd ever heard, and she acted like a guy plenty of time before. Eventually the two decided to cease arguing and continue with the plan, achieving Ichigo's Vasto Lorde state was all that mattered now that Nelliel had ascended.

The two traveled for some time before reaching the closest adjuchas. This one was a large dragon like adjuchas. It had a body similar to Ichigo's; however, its head was that of a western dragon with wings at its back. Its own tail was had a spiked mace at the end and its eyes were a glowing blue color. After conversing for some time, it showed its true colors. They three fought, but with Nelliel's new found powers, they easily overwhelmed it. With the monster slain, Ichigo ate what he could before moving on with Nelliel. It went on like this for some time, but they soon drew attention to themselves.

In The Dunes of Hueco Mundo, one hollow has founded a kingdom so large, it was almost incomprehensible to understand the magnitude of it. Every kingdom needs a king and this kingdom was ruled by Lord Barragan. In a world were only the strongest survived, Barragan was the standard for hollows everywhere. He was the strongest of any known Vasto Lorde and he proved this time and time again when he had to cut down fellow Vasto Lorde trying to dethrone him. Where he came from was unknown, he predated the majority of adjuchas and Vasto Lorde. Because of this, he claimed to be the oldest hollow. He believed he was death incarnate and carried out his rule under such pretenses. Any hollow who would not kneel to Barragan would be put to death. His word was law and no one dared to defy him.

Some time into his rule, he decided that sentencing them to death when they stumbled into his palace wasn't enough. He decided to actively hunt hollows that resisted his rule by forming hunting parties. In return for hunting down potential rebels in the kingdom, they were allowed to keep their masks intact with the possibility of evolving to Vasto Lorde. Unfortunately for Barragan, the majority of these hunting parties were weak. To compensate, he'd send them in packs of twenty or so hollows. Any adjuchas that lost the possibility to evolve, but proved themselves in battle were inducted into his royal guard. With the preparations in place, the terrible rule of Barragan began. He had countless adjuchas slaughtered in the following years. He was the reason the majority of adjuchas remained under ground in the Forest of Menos. Only a select few were powerful enough to resist his rule and defeat the overwhelming numbers of the hunting parties.

Those that weren't strong enough, banded together with more powerful adjuchas in order to survive. Sometimes they flat out refused Barragan's rule and actively tried to thwart his goals. In these cases, Barragan would have a specific hunting party put together to hun them down, after which he would challenge and slay them brutally. Recently, he had taken note of a powerful pair of hollows in his kingdom. He knew one to be of Vasto Lorde level and the other near a mid level adjuchas just from sensing their power. He had done with them as he had with many others. The hollow hunting party tracked them down quickly; however, the meeting went bad and a fight ensued.

The hunting party had explained where they were, Barragan's Kingdom, prompting Ichigo to comment on it not being much of a kingdom. The Hunting Party immediately took offense; however, Nelliel quickly flared her power. With tension low, the hunting party told of Barragan's orders to bring them back to his palace. When questioned what they'd do, they told of them kneeling before Barragan and swearing allegiance to him. Of course, Ichigo denied the demand for he was much more inclined to achieve Vasto Lorde status. The hunting party insisted until the two completely refused, having tired of their pushy attitude. During their departure, the hunting party attack them with what they called a combined cero. Much like the attacks Ichigo and many other aduchas had before. The two managed to deflect the combined cero, but the hunting party closed in quickly and attacked them.

Together, Ichigo and Nelliel managed to kill three before being split by the overwhelming numbers. Nelliel managed to kill three more before being forced on defensive. Ichigo managed to slay two; however, a combined assault from four forced him to retreat or he would risk damaging his mask and/or being consumed. As he retreated into the distance, the last he saw of Nelliel was her charging a bright pink attack in her mouth before detonating it. The shockwave allowed him to gain some much needed distance from the chasing hollows. For the following three days, not that they could tell time, he hid and did what he could to evade the adjuchas until they eventually gave up, much to his relief. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of no where. There were no other hollows for miles around that he could sense. " _I have to evolve... I won't let Nelliel's sacrifice be in vain_." Ichigo thought before setting out in one direction.

Ever since then, he had been walking aimlessly. Currently, he was on his second day of being alone. The solitude was starting to get to his psyche because he was beginning to see things. _Hear_ things in his sleep, things he knew couldn't possibly happen. He would flare his energy at when resting to see if anyone was near him, but no one every was. As time progressed, he began falling deeper into a pit of paranoia. He had never actually been alone as an adjuchas, literally. Up until five days ago, Nelliel was always with him where ever he went. Being alone in a quiet, depressing environment, was getting to him. He was beginning to come undone, beginning to go insane. Despite this, he pressed on, for some part of him was determined to see this through, determined to evolve. It became painfully obvious what was beginning to happen to Ichigo as time pressed on into the second week. Ichigo was starting to regress and, because of his depression, couldn't even see it. He still search desperately for any adjuchas he would be able to devour and cease his hunger, thus warding off regression. He found none, he was completely alone.

It was nearing the end of the third week when he felt a _massive_ power that drowned all of his senses. It was speeding towards him with so much speed that he didn't even have time to react. When he turned his head, he was picked up by something and carried at speeds he would think are close to Mach 1. The two eventually arrived over a small forest in the dessert, where the creature dropped him. He kept falling despite already going through the canopy of the forest. As Ichigo fell he saw the forest floor, much to his surprise. " _What?! No way I reached the forest floor so quickly. I still shouldn't be able to see it!_ " Ichigo quickly dug his claws into the nearest tree trunk when, much to his shock, splinters of wood tore of instead of sand. " _W-What the? This isn't the Forest of Menos!_ " Ichigo mentally screamed as he continued his rapid descent. The slowed down just before hitting the ground on the forest floor, easing his fall. Never the less, he had plenty of broken bones, thankfully instant regeneration healed them.

He got up from his spot and examined his surroundings. It looked nothing like the Forest of Menos aside from the similar fact that they have trees of some sort. The trees here were dark brown and made of wood, where as the Forest of Menos' had massive white trees made of compact sand. The ground here was made of some sort of tough, yet soft brown stuff. The ground in the Forest of Menos was made of sand. The biggest difference was the fact that he could barely see twenty feet in front of himself. He looked around his surroundings before feeling that power source again. When Ichigo's head snapped to it, all he saw was a near death adjuchas. " _How the hell does that thing have that much power?_ " Ichigo felt a shiver roll up his spine before flipping around. The same thing happened, another near death adjuchas appeared. Every time a shiver found his spine, another appeared and it was beginning to freak Ichigo out. He slowly backed up until his back was against the tree he used to slow his descent.

A soft thud drew his attention before his body tensed as he looked upward to the sounds origins. Above him was a strange, but terrifying hollow. It's mask was rather plain, it covered the entirety of their face, with the exception of their eyes. Green streaks came down from they eye sockets before disappearing beneath the thing's chin. At the top of its head were two very long horns that curved up like that of a gazelles. At the base of their skull, black hair jutted out from beneath the mask that completely encompassed the head. The eyes seemed, more or less, monotone. Black wings were wrapped around the majority of the body, hiding it from Ichigo's view, with the exception of the pasty white arms holding onto the tree. The appearance wasn't what was terrifying though, it was the fact that this was in fact a Vasto Lorde. The two waited for minutes as they stared at one another before the Vasto Lorde motioned towards the injured hollows. It took Ichigo a minute, possibly more, to realize what he meant.

"You want me to eat them?" The Vasto Lorde's only response was a nod before it resumed its silent stare. Ichigo looked the hollows up and down, he wasn't one for attacking them while they were down, but he also wasn't one for regression. He quickly, yet cautiously, approached them and, once he was sure they wouldn't spring up and attack him, dug in. It didn't take long to feel the effects of the healthy meal. His energy soared back to normal, possibly higher, he also lost all the strange ailments that afflicted him during his solitude. He swallowed the last chunk of his food before turning back to where he last saw the Vasto Lorde. It was gone, literally, it had disappeared, he couldn't even sense the thing. " _Strange..._ " He growled in his own head. Ichigo did a complete one-eighty and, much to the other's surprise, found the Vasto Lorde. Their eyes were visibly wide underneath the mask as they stood where Ichigo had just finished the meal.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Ichigo broke the silence. "Who are you?" He didn't know whether the hollow could respond or not. His mask never moved when he talked, so he saw no reason why no mouth hole would hinder their speech. The hollow did nothing as it looked at him. " _Damn I guess the mask fused their mouth shut._ " Ichigo took a step forward and, much to his dismay, the Vasto Lorde stepped back. "Why did you save me?" Once again, the hollow didn't speak; however, it pointed straight to Ichigo's chest before gesturing to its own. It was at this moment Ichigo noticed the similarities between the two of them. Their hollow holes were in the same spot and, much to his shock, their energy felt alike; although, this new hollow's was considerably darker and more dense than his. "Is it because we're similar?" The Vasto Lorde nodded, confirming his suspicions. "Are you alone?" Ichigo extended his power outwards to sense anyone else; however, the being in front of him had a signature so large that it was like an ocean was on top of them. The Vasto Lorde nodded at him, but he was still suspicious. " _What's his angle? No hollow ever helps another, especially not ones that are alone..._ " Ichigo was about to leave when an image of his friend flashed in his mind. " _Nelliel..._ "

Ichigo's shoulders slumped down some as his eyes became half lidded. The memory of his long time friend made him visibly sad at the thought of her being dead. He wasn't allowed to fall into a pit of despair because a hand on his shoulder pulled him back to his senses. The owner was none other than the Vasto Lorde in front of him. It stared into his eyes, transmitting a feeling of understanding between the two. It was at this moment Ichigo decided he wouldn't let another friend down. He would start by repaying this stranger's kindness, somehow. "You know what it feels like to be alone don't you?" With a single nod, Ichigo decided what to do while trying to achieve Vasto Lorde. "Since you're alone, and I'm alone, do you wanna travel together?"

The hollow's eyes widened at the question before it began looking around. Its body language suggested it was unsure of what to do. Ichigo, despite being dense, realized why. "This is your home, isn't it?" The hollow nodded before looking into the darkness. Doing so too, Ichigo was surprised when he created a small ball of green and white light before throwing it into the darkness. As it passed away, Ichigo caught glimpses of strange hollows in the woods surrounding them. Most of them didn't have eyes; however, all of them were either completely white or completely black. " _I guess there's no sense in having pigments when all you do is scurry around in the dark._ " When he looked back to the Vasto Lorde, Ichigo saw him looking down. "What is it?" The hollow pointed to him, then himself, before pointing them. "What? You think we're all the same?" The idea appalled him to his core. He was not a freak living in the shadows like a coward. The nod answered his question, to which he narrowed his eyes. "No..." Their eyes widened at his statement. "I am nothing like them, I don't hide away, afraid every time something powerful comes my way." The hollow tilted its head to the side, confused by his answer. They all looked alike, what did he mean? "You and me aren't the same, but we're sure as the hell closer than those things." He pointed towards the shadows.

"We are different, these things are weak and have little desire to evolve. But you and me, we are strong. You wanted to evolve and you did, much like I'm going too. We're determined, we are people. We have..." Ichigo looked down to the hole in his chest before narrowing his eyes. "We have a heart." The two had a stare down before the Vasto Lorde closed their eyes. Ichigo waited for a response, which took hours, but eventually they acted. They lifted and arm and pointed it towards Ichigo were a bright white and green attack began forming. Ichigo was frozen; however, he made to dodge the attack anyways. It wasn't huge, instead it was a pin point style of attack. The beam short past his head, causing a screech to be heard. Ichigo swirled around and found a snake like hollow behind him. It's mask was split in half, but didn't fall. It quickly began evaporating into thin air. Hisses echoed from their surroundings and the sound of scuttling could be heard from nearby. "I think it's time for us to go." With a nod from his companion, Ichigo began looking for a way out. Unfortunately, there was nothing as darkness surrounded them. "I don't suppose you have a way out... Do you?"

Ichigo looked back to find his new friend, but found nothing he was expecting. His friend was gone, but so was the forest. In face, all he could see was a sea of black next to the endless night sky of Hueco Mundo. It turned his head forward and found he was flying, actually he was being carried by the very same Vasto Lorde that saved his life a moment ago. "I take it I owe you then?" The Vasto Lorde continued to fly off in one direction like it never even heard the question in the first place.

"Wow, I get a friend that can never shut up and then I get a friend can never talk... Oh, the irony..." The two soared off into the sky at tremendous speeds on their way back to The Dunes of Hueco Mundo, never to be seen in that dark forest ever again...


	8. Importance of Self

**Author's Comment:  
** Just a pre-post-pole updated. Time's running out if you want to vote. Bonus points of you can figure out the crossover scene in this chapter.

 **Bleached  
** by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 8  
"Importance of Self"

 _The Dunes of Hueco Mundo_

Ichigo and his companion flew for a _very_ long time. They were air born so long that Ichigo was beginning to get tired of flying. His shoulders ached and his legs felt numb, luckily he had a mouth, unlike his unfortunate friend. It made him realize that things could always be worse, but that didn't mean he'd remain silent if he could improve the situation. "Hey, I appreciate the flight; however, I _can_ walk." The Vasto Lorde looked down at him before looking back at the direction they were flying. Him blatantly ignoring what Ichigo said was mildly surprising to the young adjuchas. He blinked before realizing that he no mouth. " _Gonna take some time to get used to that._ " Ichigo sighed and shook his head. When his black and yellow eyes opened back up he was standing on The Dunes of Hueco Mundo. "What the?" Ichigo blinked again. He spun around and scanned the area. His mouthless friend was no where in sight, so having done this before, Ichigo turned around to see his friend standing there. This time they weren't as surprised as when they were caught in the dark forest. "You're pretty fast huh?" The hollow merely stared indifferently at him before he decided to change subjects.

Not too far away, there was a spiritual signature. It was pretty strong too, yet it was no where near that of Ichigo's or the Vasto Lorde. " _I wonder why he's interested in them._ " The hollow followed Ichigo's gaze as it detected a pack of hollows in the distance. The pair stood for minutes before Ichigo's tail started twirling in the sand behind him. " _Strange, I don't think I've seen someone do that before... Then again..._ "

Ichigo was focused on the group of hollows pretty far off. The vast majority of them were weak, yet one of them stuck out like a beacon amongst the rest. This was the hollow he originally sensed. " _It could be another one of Barragan's hunting parties..._ " The idea of them turned his insides into an inferno. He wanted to kill them for what they did, he was ashamed of himself for letting it happen. The power signatures closed in; although, the most powerful was recklessly charging towards him. They didn't even bother to wait for their group to catch up. What was wrong with them? Couldn't they sense the Vasto Lorde beside him? Why in the world would they even want to get near them? Ichigo sighed when he realized they'd be there in a matter of seconds. He wanted more time to gauge their group before fighting; however, they seemed to have thought he was challenging them when he raised his spiritual pressure to sense for other hollows. " _As a matter of fact, why are they so fast? With that level of power, they should only be a quarter of that speed._ " Ichigo shook his head before loosening his body. Fights typically happened around him whenever he met new adjuchas.

In under thirty seconds, the adjuchas he'd sensed had arrived. The two locked eyes for some time, neither moving until Ichigo became bored. The others were still pretty far behind the hollow, so he had time to talk. He took in it's appearance, it looked like a black panther with white plates covering its entire body. It had blue eyes and was pretty small, even when compared to Ichigo, who was already small for an adjuchas. "You got a name?" The panther didn't reply, he didn't have to reply. Ichigo sensed it before the panther could attempt it. He did a backwards cartwheel and narrowly avoided being slashed into a top an bottom. The two remained at a stand still before Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "That was very rude." He disappeared in a burst of speed as the panther gave chase. Clouds of dust like sand were flung into the air as each time the panther lunged at him, he would barely escape.

"Why... won't... you... hold... still!" Ichigo caught a glimpse of their real voice and soon kneed their gut, causing the panther to fall onto its side. Their eyes bulged before staring at Ichigo. They glared hatefully at him before struggling to their paws. Ichigo could see they were like a rabid animal, wild and in a frenzy. So when they launched at him, he decided to do what one should do to any rabid animal. Side stepping the panther's maw and claws, he reached down and grabbed their spine where the hollow hole was. He flung them away and watched as they skidded through the sand before coming to a stop. Much to his surprise, a loud explosion was heard before he realized the panther was behind him. His eyes widened as he ducked beneath a paw swipe, but much to his confusion, he found himself tackled to the ground by the same panther. They moved in quickly to bite him, but Ichigo wrapped his tail around the exposed spine again before chucking them off himself. Hoping to his three toed feet, he launched at the adjuchas before being launched to his right from a sharp blow to his ribs. He stood up before throwing his left arm in defense. It failed as two paws found his chest and launched him into a sand dune. The panther began to build up speed for another tackled when a large red beam ripped from the sand cloud and nearly hit the panther. Whilst mid air, the panther looked down, glaring as the beam dissipated. "That was close..." Their voice was rough and sounded like what many akin to gravel.

"So he does speak." The voice drew his attention to behind himself were he came face to finger tips with the ginger haired hollow. The atmosphere behind him was almost black as red and crimson streams gather at Ichigo's finger tips. "Cat got you tongue?" Ichigo's chuckle that followed threw the cat into a freny as he went to swipe Ichigo's arm. Much to its surprise, its reaction time was noticeably slower, allowing Ichigo to detonate the attack at point lank range. Despite the bonus, it wouldn't be enough to crack their mask, their power gap wasn't that large for a one hitter to end the fight. Instead it drove the small hollow into the ground in a brilliant display of red light, one that made even the Vasto Lorde marvel at its beauty. It was viewable from at least the approaching group and sensible from even further into the endless dessert.

Ichigo decided to launch himself at the crater, no longer content with remaining defensive. As he closed in, a flare in power drew his attention, allowing him to swerve right in time to avoid being impaled on a set of claws; although, they left a long gouge extending down his arm. As the two skidded to a stop away from each other, they turned to charge again. They were interrupted when a group of hollows appeared in front of the panther as the Vasto Lorde appeared in front of Ichigo.

While Ichigo was confused about his partner interrupting, he was grateful he wouldn't have to handle the entire group on his own. His friend currently stood with their arm outstretched to the right, in front of Ichigo. The panther had a completely different reaction, for he snarled at the group. "What the hell's the meaning of this?!" One of the group was the first to respond.

"We know how you feel about this Grimmjow, but I'm afraid fighting now would be a bad idea." Their voice was calm, almost even in tone. They were purple and the hollow fragments seemed almost like that of a skeleton. A cage his their face and a long chain of bone links extended from the back of his neck.

"And why the hell is that?" Though the panther, Grimmjow, had apparently calmed down, he was still miffed.

"If you haven't noticed, both of these hollows are extremely powerful-"

"Are you calling me weak?!" His power flared again, almost like a wild fire.

"No, I am not. One of them is a Vasto Lorde and there is the matter of the hunting party tracking us. Until we lose them, we probably want to avoid contacting other hollows." Silence fell upon them as both sides stared the other down. The whole time, Grimmjow was staring into Ichigo's eyes. Heat began to bubble his blood as his temper began to flare before he stopped. His laughed shocked his comrades and Ichigo to an extent. The body language had Ichigo sure he would have attacked.

"You think I'm terrified of that pale freak of nature and this overgrown strawberry." The reason for his feelings were unjustified, and it confused why he was so angry. He didn't know whether it was the person are something else. Something about being called a strawberry pissed Ichigo off to no end.

"You're one to talk blue bird." The same reaction hit Grimmjow lack a ton of bricks. He snarled, amusing Ichigo to an extent.

"You wanna go short stack?"

"You're smaller than me!" Both of their energy signatures climbed. It was evident they would fight again. Luckily the Vasto Lorde came up with a solution before they could do anything further. A small, but powerful, green ball of energy sent the group far out of their sight without actually killing them. " _Huh?_ " Ichigo turned to look back at the Vasto Lorde. They had their abnormally long, pale, arm stretched out with their pointed finger stretched in the direction of the trouble makers. "Why'd you do that?" The Vasto Lorde turned their head to their left side and waited for Ichigo to get the hint. "Oh..." He felt the a sum of twenty three hollows charging towards them, a grim reminder of Barragan's influence throughout Hueco Mundo. "Let's gooooooo!" Ichigo was air born before he could finish talking, easily breaking Mach one speeds

 **xxxXXXOutlands of Hueco MundoXXXxxx**

Currently Ichigo and his faithful companion had been walking for two days or so. The terrain had changed vastly, so much that Ichigo _and_ his companion felt drawn to it. Unfortunately, it proved to be just as dangerous and maybe even more barren. There were very few hollows in the area, true hollows as Ichigo had began calling them. They were few, but powerful, almost as powerful as his friend. The other hollows were different. So much so that Ichigo felt uncomfortable, disgusted to an extent that he would purposefully make up excuses for him and the Vasto Lorde to stay away from them.

Recently, the two had battled a dragon adjuchas that had a near unbelievable amount of power. It was also very annoying too. It had bright pink hair that stretched down its back and was a gigantic western dragon that breathed massive streams of fire. Each fire did something different too. The purple fire made Ichigo go berserk, while the orange fire blew out his smelling. Eventually he decided to use a combined attack with the Vasto Lorde to knock the dragon back, giving them time to escape. It was strange when they used the attacks together, they swirled together and spun wildly before becoming black with white light swirling along the outside. They knew it knocked the wind out of the dragon, but other than a few smudges, it seemed fine.

That was one of the few instances where they met other hollows. They had only fought and killed one hollow, they were obnoxious and pig headed too. All they would do was complain about them being trash, even to the point of the normally emotionless Vasto Lorde smacking them. They wore white knight like armor with a small mask slot in the form of a cross. Their body radiated purple energy and they wielded a sword with a shield that seemed to be made of pure energy. It once again took an effort for both of them two bring down the hollow down. Whether they were Vasto Lorde status or not, they made a good meal for Ichigo. Much to both of their surprise, he didn't evolve. Rather, he became sick from eating them. He tried to remain strong, but even the stoic Vasto Lorde could see it was getting to him.

They came upon a strange adjuchas shortly after. It's skin and texture blended with the sand an rocks perfectly when it ambushed them. The strange ailment had weakened Ichigo to the point of the creature knocking him down. It was a giant octopus and, rather than kill them, it kept attempting to restrain them. For what reasons, Ichigo shuttered. He became infuriated by it and eventually charged a large powerful attack to bring down the octopus. He was impaled on another tendril before being thrown high into the air. His friend caught him, but they were both burned by a strong energy blast for the arthropod. As the two crashed to the sand below, Ichigo _felt_ something. Something deep inside that was screaming at him. He began to panic as his vision blurred before he found himself lost in a sea of black...

 **xxxXXXLocation UnknownXXXxxx** _  
_

"W-Wh-Wha-What t-th- the?" His voice was everywhere and it kept reverberating off of some unknown substances. He twisted and turned his body, but found he couldn't even see himself. " _W-Wh-Whe-Wher-Where a-am I?_ " Every word in his sentence kept echoing, much to his displeasure. He kept trying to look around and move, but he couldn't feel a difference. He couldn't tell _anything_ about what was happening or where he was. After some time of fruitless efforts, he extended his sensory field, feeling for anything. His power suffocated the vast majority of his sensors, but there was _something_ there. He wasn't alone, he could feel another energy signature. It wasn't the Vasto Lorde or the octopus they'd been fighting. With no hesitation, he reached for it. He figured anyone in the same position would do the same.

Instead of grasping the wrist of a fellow hollow, or something akin to that, he instead grasped something thin and hard. The feature that drew his attention the most was the ice cold feeling he felt when he touched it. Confusion wracked his head before he decided to pull on it, he wanted to see what it was and why they were there to.

Instead of seeing a person, his entire surrounding area became engulfed by light. This light was blue, red, white and grey. Each time he looked at a color, it brought forth a feeling from him. The red made him feel angry, enraged, yet powerful. The dark grey made him feel sad, yet he felt like it knew something, as strange as it was. The white frightened him, it shook his very core, and the entire place around him. Despite being afraid, he still longed for it, for he just wanted to be enveloped in it. He reached to it, surprised to not see his own, tapered fingers. Instead he found a pink, fleshy hand grasping tightly onto the blue light. Suddenly everything shone white, blinding the hollow...

 **xxxXXXUnknown Amount of Time LaterXXXxxx**

Ichigo jumped up from his laying position. Sweat drenched his body as darkness surrounded him. His eyes adjusted as soon as possible, allowing him to realize he was in a cave. Everything seemed darker than normal, but then again the moon wasn't there to light the way. He attempted to speak, but he could not hear anything. He scrambled to his feet and raced out of the cave and found himself back in the endless dessert that was Hueco Mundo. "Is anyone there?" He felt dust kick up behind himself and turned, seeing a woman standing there. "The hell?" He spoke, but no sounds came out. " _Why can't I hear myself?_ " Despite being outside, he still didn't make a peep. "Who are you?"

She remained silent as he stared at her. Neither one of them moved; however, Ichigo felt his heart strings tug every time he met her gaze. He looked away and to the ground, trying to push down these strange feelings. He looked back up and watched as her impassive gaze turned into a saddened gaze. It hurt him, more than any wound every could. She opened her mouth, yet he couldn't make out anything she said. It kept hurting him inside, not a physical, but an emotional pain. His eyes were wet, a foreign feeling ot him. He reach up and rubbed his eyes the best he could. When he looked back, she was gone. He looked down and found himself at his knees with the woman's arms around his neck. With her face right beside his ear, she whispered the only thing he could hear at the time. "私は残念私の息子."

He found himself falling through the sands of Hueco Mundo and into The Forest of Gillains. Despite using his energy, he couldn't slow himself. He only seemed to speed up as he smash through the forest floor, finding himself in another endless void. This time he slowed down without even trying. He seemed to float down slower and slower until he was right side up. Suddenly he found himself standing on an invisible platform in the middle of the darkness. He felt weightless, yet he also felt heavy, he couldn't describe it himself. "Where am I?" Once again, silence.

He looked down at the invisible floor and placed his pointed right hand on the surface. Much to his surprise, blue light began to swirl around him forming a massive circle of a pitch black platform. The darkness began to float away from the platform in streams or inky black liquid, the likes of which Ichigo had never seen. He looked back down at the floor beneath him, now glowing with blue light as it shined bright in the darkness. It was an image of a group of people. The two pictures to the top left of the giant circle were faces he recognized well. "Karin, Yuzu..." He stared at them before examining the rest of the image. The two faces in circles decorating the bottom left were new. A man with black hair and thin black facial hair. He looked serious too, but then the other face drew his attention. It was the woman from way up higher. She had caramel brown hair, fair skin and was smiling. She was vaguely familiar because of his recent meeting with her.

Finally, his attention was drawn to the largest piece of the image. It was of three people. The far right one had long dark brown hair and some kind of cloak on. The collar was tattered white, much like the black/red cloak. Beside his light facial hair, nothing stood out about him aside from the glasses he wore. To the left was a boy, definitely not an adult, but not a little kid either. He had bleach white hair with light gray shadows dancing over their form. Their eyes were black with yellow coloring and they held a grin that made him question their sanity. He wore white robes with black robes underneath. The main icon behind both of them looked like the white one. His skin was slightly tanned, his brown eyes scowled and he wore a neon green T-shirt with maroon sleeves. His arms were crossed over some kind of skull with headphones on the chest of the shirt. What shocked Ichigo the most was the bright orange hair that reminded him of his own. The only difference being theirs was a way shorter version.

"Was... that me?" Finally, after the silence, could he finally speak. Without warning, the inky blackness dropped back down and began constricting him. Whilst pinned, he struggled, and began to slip out of the surprisingly strong liquid. Much to his dismay, another column crashed onto his head. "My mask!" He ripped his arms from the other collumns and clawed the liquid of his face. Much to his horror, he was the tanned, soft hands of a human. "What happened to me?!" Before he could scream more, he was pinned to the edge of the circle were blue light began to flicker. Another stream of black ink found his face as it began shoving its self into his mouth and down his throat. "Mmmmmungh!" He couldn't scream and couldn't move. Ichigo began to freak out as everything faded to black. He bit down hard enough to end the constant stream of liquid and screamed for help. "Za-" The ink resumed asphyxiating the ginger... He developed tunnel vision soon afterword as he choked and gurgled and the overwhelming ink. Then, like turning out the light in a room with no windows or doors, everything went dark...


	9. Awful Truth that is Life

**Author Message:  
** The pole has been taken down and the results are in. Bleached won by a land slide, with the popular and majority vote of 52% to the rest of the stories. On a separate note, I need Ichigo to do some character growth, but don't worry about Ulquiorra.

 **Bleached  
** by  
Jullian J. Rangel

Chapter 9  
"Awful Truth That is Life"

 _The Outlands, Hueco Mundo_

Ichigo jumped high into the air, before pointing his fingers down at the enemy and firing a large blast of red energy. The resulting explosion made a crater that stretched for a mile in each direction. Ichigo flared his power, clearing the smoke to reveal a unharmed Vasto Lorde. He grunted before launching down at the Vasto Lorde with as much speed as he could muster, which still wasn't enough. Just before Ichigo's finger could make contact, the hallow leaped away with all the grace of an angel. Too slow to stop his movement or redirect his momentum, he braced for the impact as the hollow he was chasing landed not too far away. The dust cloud was easily twenty meters tall and ten meters in diameter. Once again, the dust was blown away by an invisible wind before streaks of red light shot out of the ground, just below Ichigo.

The ground behind him began to crunch as he launched himself at the Vasto Lorde, intent on at least hitting them. He was upon them, swinging his arm in a wide swing. As h followed through with the punch, the hollow dodged with even more grace. On instinct, Ichigo used his tail to whip them, which proved useless as they disappeared and appeared in front of Ichigo.

The adjuchas froze in shock before doing a backflip to avoid a nasty blow to the head from blackened finger tips. As he back flipped, he used his talon feet to attempt a slash at them. Much to his dismay, the simply side stepped the attack before pressing their advantage. In order to prevent an unwanted situation, Ichigo leaped at them, intent on tackling them to the sand. They reached up their slender arm and grabbed his throat before tossing him overhead using his a bit of strength with his own momentum. He rocketed toward a large boulder, causing Ichigo to cover his mask with both arms.

The boulder was made of hardened spirit particles, which made it especially dense. Dense enough to launch him off the boulder and somewhere off course, leaving some of the boulder intact. Ichigo, admits the soaring through the air, managed to recover and dig his hands into the ground. It seemed to work as he started slowing down a lot; _however_ ; the pain was far more than when he was amongst the trees or sand dunes of Hueco Mundo. He looked up just in time to notice a boulder flying at him. He raised his arms to block the boulder, which did the same thing as before.

He flew back even faster before skidding along the surface. He quickly sat up and examined the scrapes an bruises his body was littered with. He hissed before noticing the stream of green energy shooting towards him. He growled as he extended his finger tips on his left hand and charged an attack with the remainder of his energy. All of his surroundings began to blur and he hissed a finally his before letting loose a devastating blast that tore through the green attack. Much to his surprise, a shadow raced past him. Since he caught it in his peripherals, he barely turned in time for his chest to catch the brunt of a black leg smashing him away. The kick was so much powerful than anything he could've prepared for.

As he rolled/bounced along the ground, his shouts of pain could still be heard from the pale Vasto Lorde's position. Their eyes widened as they took to the air to catch up and ensure they hadn't permanently injured Ichigo. With Ichigo, he lied in a heap on the ground. His instant regeneration was working, but much slower than he would've preferred. The chest cavity that had been caved in was nearly finished healing, but the cuts, burns, and other broken bones would have to wait before it got to them. A soft breeze graced his skin as he sensed the Vasto Lorde land near him. His only response of to let out a whine of a groan before they rolled him onto his back with their foot.

Looking down at the adjuchas, the Vasto Lorde sensed for any significant change in power. They closed their eyes and thought to their self before staring back at their friend. " _Why does he exaggerate the situation?_ " Picking him up by the scruff of his neck, the hollow took Ichigo into the air as they made their way home with Ichigo in tow...

 **xxxXXXDuo of the Waste HideoutXXXxxx**

Ichigo rested against the cold wall of the hard cave him and his companion resided in. His wounds hadn't finished healing, leaving him sore. The Vasto Lorde left to bring back something to rejuvenate him. This was something that irritated Ichigo to no end. He didn't know whether this hollow was always like this, but it went against everything Ichigo stood for, well what he knew he stood for. It killed him inside to know he was so weak that he had to rely on the help of another to survive. he enjoyed the company and the free food was awesome too, but Ichigo was facing a crisis. He was losing his motivation to continue, having everything done for him just didn't sit right with him.

He needed to get stronger to protect others, others he c _ared_ for. Sitting around and doing nothing made it near impossible to progress in his evolution and he was getting rusty in his fighting skills, which was why he asked his friend for a spar in the first place. While he had nearly doubled in speed and power, he reflexes and strategizing had seriously fallen off. This on top of the sickness he'd seemingly come down with and the strange dream that has been repeating ever since that fight with the octopus have given him many headaches over the last few times he'd rested, which was a lot in these recent days.

A thud from across the room drew his attention. Once again, his friend was standing at the door with wings wrapped around their body, leaving Ichigo a near death adjuchas twitching on the cave floor. Ichigo blinked before thanking the Vasto Lorde and walking over to consume the meal. It was the only thing that seemed to ward off Ichigo's sickness. He had briefly pondered if it was hime regressing, but with the rate the Vasto Lorde brought him meals, that would be impossible. He never went more than a weak with out eating a hollow, so the origin perplexed him. He swallowed the last bit of hollow and relished in the clarity it brought his mind, is body twitched involuntarily as a sign or approval at the full meal.

With a full stomach, he looked to his companion before raising an eyebrow. The Vasto Lorde had their left index finger pointed at the center of Ichigo's mask. It was flat were the nose would have been, but that didn't stop them from gathering green/sea foam colored energy at their finger tip. "Woah! Woah! Hold on there!" The energy ceased gathering; however, it remained compressed at their finger tip as they gave a curious stare to Ichigo. "Listen, I'm getting soar from all of this fighting, so what do you say we go out and hunt a hollow?" Despite his only response being a blink, Ichigo pressed the matter. "Really though, I want to get out and do my own hunting. I know I'm getting rusty and I can't always rely on you."

The Vasto Lorde nodded before they disbursed the energy. Reluctantly, Ichigo took a shaky breath. He was getting tired of getting beat down so easily. While his physical injuries always healed, the mental scars took a lot longer. The Vasto Lorde grabbed Ichigo's wrist and shot off faster than a jet into the night sky. Ichigo didn't even notice they had actually moved until he was almost thrown forward by the sudden stop. He had literally blinked and they were at a new area. It looked like The Dunes of Hueco mundo, but it seemed much more flat. Not too far away resided a single adjuchas that was sleeping. It was _very_ large, easily topping at twenty meters tall.

"You want me to fight that?" Ichigo stared with wide eyes at the massive creature before him. A silent nod from his partner made him sweat drop before sighing. Deciding to skip the formalities, Ichigo charged the hollow. Their eyes snapped open to reveal a bright blue glow coming from them. Ichigo paid no mind as he made to pierce their mask.

The massive hollow blurred from existence before appearing behind Ichigo, much to his shock. He managed to evade the large clothesline it attempted before firing off a quick attack of red at the large hollow. It leaped over and landed next to Ichigo, startling the adjuchas. It attempted a leg sweep, but Ichigo was fast enough to summersault away. The two stood apart before Ichigo suddenly appeared in front of the hollow. His right arm was charged with red energy as he went to gut the giant. Much to his horror, the giant blurred again before head butting him from behind. "What the?"

Instead of the previous one, no there was a rhino in its place. The blood leaking down the horn confirmed Ichigo's suspicions of it attack him. It blurred just as the giant reappeared and attempted to smash his head in. Ichigo barely dodged before retaliating viciously. He charged a red attack at his finger tips and detonating it a point blank range. Not wasting a moment, Ichigo back flipped away before charging another attack. This one resulted in the surrounding area darkening as the red glowed at the tip of his fingers. He detonated the blast and covered the area in sand.

Ichigo could feel a sense a feeling of relief at ending the fight. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the monster was relatively unharmed. His eyes widened at the sight, which pleased the massive hollow. It seemed to grin in sick delight at Ichigo's flabbergasted appearance. That was until it disappeared and a horn imbedded into Ichigo's gut. Just below his rib cage was the rhinos horn. It had a stream a blue light flowing off it towards were the other monster stood prior to its arrival.

" _W-What the hell? Did it just shape shift?!_ " The rhino jabbed its horn into is internal organs by picking him up by his rib cage via horn. "Gah!" Blood gushed out of his mouth when ever he'd open it. It didn't seemed satisfied with his paralyzed position as it soon change to a large vine that drove him at least one hundred meters into the sky before it stopped growing. A large venous fly trap raised to his position, but its only colors were white and black as large and pointed white teeth lined its black mouth. Ichigo could see a remnant of an arm between two teeth, as if its last victim tried to escape its maw.

Struggle as he might, Ichigo couldn't move. " _Why can't I move!_ " The mouth leered closer as he managed to twitch, but at his rate, he would be in the things mouth long before he could regain full cognitive functions. He opened his mouth to scream, but more blood gushed forth. " _Damn it! Move! Move!_ " Ichigo screamed as blood streamed from his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Vasto Lorde struggling to break free of at least ten times as many vines as him. " _He's so strong... so much stronger than me..._ " The mouth was close enough that he could feel its breath. He now struggled for breaths as the vine wiggled in his chest, bringing him indescribable pain. After a few seconds of writhing, the ginger adjuchas went limp on the vine.

As a result, the plant creature lifted the Vasto Lorde closer before tossing the adjuchas in the air. As Ichigo spun and flipped, he felt feeling return and his legs first, than his arms, then his abdomen, which brought little pain. Finally he felt it return to his chest which brought back the pain. He straightened his fall and noticed he was almost back to the plant.

He swerved right, barely dodging the snapping jaws before evading even more vines that seemed to follow him as he fell. Without realizing it, he began to charge an attack in his right hand. Upon reaching the floor, he flung himself along the ground before recovering about forty feet from his original impact point. He threw up his arm as the vines charged him before disintegrating them.

He took a moment to catch his breath, but it would be a fatal moment. A pair of snapping jaws had found him and nearly crushed him. Nearly because of a swift Vasto Lorde saving him. The lithe form of liquid dotted his back, freezing him in place as he hear leather strain like rope. He turned his head slowly, finding the massive plant monster there, teeth sunken not into him, but his companion instead.

"What?" With that word, he saw the pained look in his friends eyes. Teeth dug through their arms and feet, keeping them in place as one pierced their stomach. Unable to move, all it could do was stare at him before the plant began to lift away with them as its meal.

It took less than a second for Ichigo to realize what happened, but when he did, raced towards the plant with no intention of letting it escape. He grabbed the plant and considered ramming it into the ground, but remembered his friends position. He began to push with the remainder of his power, forcing the mouth open barely and inch.

"Damn, it's not enough." He struggled again, this time an inch and a half opened up; however, he easily put twice as much effort into it and was worn out. He gave it one more go, but it remained tighter than a key hole. He strained as his voice echoed across the wide flat dessert. His arms began to shake from exertion before he nearly fell off.

A gentle nudge to his shoulder pulled his attention back to the occupant. Ichigo looked up to see the Vasto Lorde staring at him. "Hold on, I'm going to get you out!" Before he could attempt again, the same tap pulled his attention again. "What is it?" The direction the Vasto Lorde was looking drew Ichigo's attention. It was a large pit of vines not too far away, less than a mile. At the speed they were moving, they had around thirty seconds to escape. "Damn, I need to get you outta there, _fast_."

He pulled on another spot, only for a similar nudge to pull him away again. "What is it? Kind of distracting me buddy." The look in the Vasto Lorde's eyes was saddening. While they always had neutral emotion eyes or sad eyes, these stuck out to him. "What is it?" He had given them his full attention, something deep inside him said he needed to do so. They continued to stare at Ichigo before shaking their head. "No? No what?" Their only response was to shake in what little room they had. "What are saying? Don't talk like that!" Ichigo began to struggle again. The heavy feeling of the Vasto Lorde's energy reached his senses. Turning back around, Ichigo saw a bright ball of green. They shook their head one last time, allowing Ichigo one last word before blasting him into the distance with a non-lethal attack. "Wait!"

The Vasto Lorde watched him trail into the distance. " _He really is over dramatic_ _..._ " Their monotone eyes stopped tracking him once the plant monster stopped, they closed their eyes, this would probably hurt.

He was gone the next second. He crashed in the dirt again, flopping around before getting to his feet. He flared his power and searched for his friend, having lost his sense of direction. He quickly found them and narrowed his eyes. " _No, I'm not gonna let another one die!_ " Determined in his heart, he tensed his legs before launching in their general direction.

 **xxxXXXThe Dunes of Hueco MundoXXXxxx**

Ichigo stumbled through this place, the sandstorms having little to no effect on him as he walked through them. He didn't have a destination in mind, just the need to walk. It had easily been two weeks since the... He stopped thinking, he didn't want to remember _that_ , for he didn't want to remember _anything_. He only stopped to beat down the occasional adjuchas that would attack him foolishly, or to slay a few members of a hunting party. He had somehow lost the will to fight, lost the will to live. He eventually wandered into a cave and lied down to rest. The cave was cool and pretty dark when compared to the surprisingly bright landscape for a permanent night.

As he lied on the floor resting, he heard the faint sounds of pitter patter and the even fainter vibrations coming from near the entrance. On reflex, he climbed into the shadows and resumed his sleeping. The sounds persisted until he could smell their breath right on top of him. With a single tail whip, he flung back his attackers and stood for the challenge. "What do you want?" His voice was bored, monotone, dead.

There were two entities there that stepped closer to him. He narrowed his eyes as they remained silent, thinking, he decided to flare his power as a sign of intimidation. It worked too, because one immediately gasped and whispered to the other. To Ichigo, it was an attempt because his hearing was so adept. "Did you feel that?"

"Damn it, yeah I did."

"He's the legend... He'ssss the Red Sand..." His eyebrow raised. He never remembered going by that name, then again he hasn't been social in a while. Deciding to either kill them or go back to bed, he raised his voice.

"If you don't leave, I'm going to kill you for trespassing." Despite the more authoritive tone, it was still even. Before either of them could answer, a nearly as deep voice called out.

"I think you're mistaken. You're the trespasser here!" He felt a very powerful energy signature appear with a far smaller one it tow. "Now, who are you and why shouldn't I kill you?"


End file.
